Kirk Herbstreit believes Alabama’s chip on shoulder makes them dangerous

For the first time in a long time, Alabama is flying a little bit under the radar heading into a college football season.

Georgia has won back-to-back national titles and has arguably surpassed the Crimson Tide as the program to beat in college football. Alabama also didn’t even make the SEC championship game last year as that spot went to LSU.

Add in the fact that Alabama lost both coordinators, as well as No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young, off of last year’s team, and some are questioning if the Crimson Tide can still compete for a national title.

ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit spoke with On3’s JD PicKell at the On3 NIL Elite Series in Nashville on Wednesday and warned that doubting Alabama and Nick Saban is a mistake.

“If you’re going to Vegas… that would be a team that I would not want to question,” Herbstreit said. “Whenever they have a few losses or whenever they don’t quite chase their goals the previous year. And whenever, ‘Oh, they’ve got a new this and a new that.’ It’s like, ‘Oh boy, Nick Saban’s in trouble.’ … I’m telling you, he’s got the same energy that he’s had since 2009 when he won his first title against Texas. He’s got great players like he had in ’09, maybe better. He’s got a team that’s going to be upset, with a chip on their shoulder. As we sit here, May 31, it’s hard for me to not lean towards Alabama in the SEC.”

In addition to having a starting quarterback who will be a first-year starter with the Crimson Tide, Alabama also has a new offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator.

Notre Dame OC Tommy Rees was hired as the Alabama offensive coordinator this offseason, while Kevin Steele is now in charge of the Crimson Tide defense.

Even with all of the changes, Herbstreit expects Alabama to very much be in the mix for the SEC championship this year. He isn’t ready to name a prohibitive favorite, but he likes the Crimson Tide’s chances.

“Now you’ve got LSU, who made incredible strides in their first year with Brian Kelly. You’ve got a lot coming back from that team that beat Bama last year. They’ve gotta go to Tuscaloosa,” Herbstreit said. “So those three [Georgia, Alabama and LSU] are going to be everybody’s three. As we sit here right now, I’m going to wait and see where we are in August. But I would [have] Bama and LSU just a little bit ahead of Georgia as we get into those summer months.”