Alabama isn't Alabama anymore — but that doesn't mean Tide can't compete
Josh Pate agrees that Alabama isn't the scorched-earth program of 10 years ago -- but argues the Crimson Tide can still compete for an SEC championship, projecting a 10-win season while acknowledging the team will be very young this season. Subscribe to "Josh Pate's College Football Show" on YouTube .
Video Transcript
Mike said Alabama isn't Alabama anymore.
That's one of those popular takes that Mike says is, is trash.
He doesn't believe in it.
Well, hey, Alabama's not Alabama anymore, if by that we mean the 10-year-ago scorched earth Nick Saban Alabama.
I guess the good news is nobody is that anymore, so you don't need to be that, and I don't think Nick Saban was even the old Alabama in the final couple of years of his tenure, and nor would it be Alabama of old if Saban came back.
So that's impossible.
As for Alabama being a team that can compete for a national championship, well, I guess that's why we call this year an inflection point.
I happen to believe they're gonna have a pretty good team this year.
Now, what they will be is very young.
So could it be one of those situations where it shows a heck of a lot of promise this year, and maybe, you know, they're better than what the 8-4 crowd expects, but maybe they still leave you saying, "Boy, that team was pretty good, but next year."
It could be.
They may just not be good.
That could be the case.
Or it could be kinda what I expect, which is I think they'll be a pretty good team.
I think they can compete for the SEC championship.
I've got them winning 10 games, so I am a little detached from the crowd on this, but it's contingent on a few things.
Run game being a lot better, kinda the same thing we're saying about OU, same thing we're saying about LSU.
Keilan Russell's just-- he's gotta be a really good player
