Alabama football news: Ryan Coleman-Williams did not stutter with mic drop

Ryan Coleman-Williams is ready to take Alabama football back to the top of the sport.

After back-to-back frustrating seasons under head coach Kalen DeBoer, the Crimson Tide, Coleman-Williams believes, is on the verge of taking over college football again, despite not having Nick Saban strolling the sidelines in Tuscaloosa.

“Asked if people were sleeping on Alabama now that Saban is doing television and no longer coaching, Coleman-Williams shrugged,” On3’s Chris Low wrote.

“‘We don’t care if they’re asleep or awake. We’re going to make them stand up,’ Coleman-Williams said.”

Coleman-Williams (then just Williams) took college football by storm as a 17-year-old true freshman during the 2024 season. As a key receiver in DeBoer’s inaugural Alabama offense, he had 48 catches for 865 yards and 10 total touchdowns. But his production dipped in 2025; while dealing with a concussion and lower-body injuries, Coleman-Williams finished the year with 49 receptions, 689 yards, and 4 touchdowns.

During the course of those two seasons, DeBoer, who came to ‘Bama after a highly successful stint at Washington, had his job called for by numerous fans, many of whom had not dealt with many losses under Saban. In DeBoer’s two years, the Tide have lost eight games. By comparison, Saban never lost more than four games in any two-year period after, like DeBoer, dropping eight combined in Year 1 and 2.

The number of losses has not been the only point of frustration for Alabama fans, though: A historic defeat vs. Vanderbilt, a loss to rival Tennessee, and a putrid showing vs. Oklahoma came in 2024, and the folllowing season, the Tide were outplayed in the season opener by Florida State, and they were crushed in the SEC Championship Game and College Football Playoff (CFP) by Georgia and Indiana, respectively.

Alabama is set to open the 2026 season vs. East Carolina on Sept. 5.