Alabama failed to make the College Football Playoff for the first time since 2019 this past season, which by Crimson Tide standards isn’t exactly up to snuff. Though the SEC powerhouse program finished the campaign 11–2, it’s a championship or bust attitude in Tuscaloosa, which puts coach Nick Saban on slightly shaky footing after the team’s 2022 performance according to former Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy.
McElroy, now a college football analyst, explained this week that Saban will be feeling the pressure more than usual next season after the Crimson Tide came up short of their ultimate goal in 2022.
“There’s no denying that,” McElroy said on the Always College Football podcast. “The expectation level around Alabama’s program is championship or bust—simple as that. There are people after Saban wins close games that say, ‘All right, it’s time for him to hang ’em up.’ People are nuts. I’m telling you, Alabama fans and Ohio State fans are as crazy as it gets, and I love them for it, but their expectation level—it’s unreasonable. It’s impossible. If you lose a game it’s like, ‘All right, season’s over.’ What? How?”
