Bray Hubbard is back in the middle of Alabama’s defense in 2026, and the Crimson Tide safety sounds eager to turn all that offseason work into something a lot more violent on the field.
After a standout 2025 season, Hubbard enters the new year as one of the Tide’s biggest defensive pieces. He piled up 79 total tackles, added two sacks and tied for the SEC lead with four interceptions. That production earned him First-team All-SEC honors, and it also cemented him as a player Alabama will lean on again.
Now Hubbard is talking like a guy who’s been waiting on the opener for a while.
“Obviously we’ve been hitting our own offense for I don’t even know how long it’s been.” Hubbard said.
“So we are ready to hit somebody else, and unleash on somebody else. We know just going out there and taking the ball away, we have to set the tone.
I feel like this game can set us up really, really well, just how we set the tone, come out and execute. How we fly around, play fast, play physical and just take the ball away.”
That message lands at a good time for Alabama, which opens against ECU this weekend. The Pirates brought in plenty of transfer portal help this offseason and come in with an offense that looks capable of giving the Tide a real first look at where the defense stands. For Hubbard and company, it’s a chance to do exactly what he said: fly around, play fast, play physical, and start taking the ball away.
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Alabamas Run Game Finally Faces Its First Real Test
Alabama heads into its game with East Carolina looking to sharpen a run game that never quite found its rhythm late last season, and that starts with a mostly new offensive line trying to set the tone early. Freshman EJ Crowell is expected to be available, giving the Tide another option as they try to establish some consistency on the ground before conference play starts to sharpen every weakness.
East Carolina brings a different kind of stress test, with a new coordinator steering an offense built around tempo and the pass. Alabamas defense enters the matchup with a reputation for being strong and cohesive, but this is still the kind of opener that can reveal a lot about both sides of the ball, especially for an offensive line still learning itself and a rushing attack looking for proof its headed in the right direction. [Read more 🡒]
Alabama Will See Several Former Starters Again In An Uncomfortable Spot
Alabamas offseason exodus sent 22 players into the transfer portal, and the ripple effect is already easy to see as several of those departures line up to play meaningful roles elsewhere next season. Ten of the transfers are projected starters at their new schools, with Alabamas old roster footprint stretching across programs like Texas A&M, Oregon State, SMU, Kentucky, Western Kentucky and Cal. For a team that is used to being the one forcing other fan bases to keep tabs on familiar names, it is a different kind of reminder of how much personnel turnover the modern game can bring.
Georgia Tech is one of the most uncomfortable stops on that list, with multiple former Alabama players expected to factor into the Yellow Jackets lineup in 2026, while other Tide transfers land in spots where their roles are still being sorted out. Some are projected backups, some are still in uncertainty as the new season approaches, and all of it leaves Alabama watching former starters and contributors settle into new homes with real chances to matter. The storyline is less about one single destination than the broader feeling that Alabama will be seeing a lot of its recent roster again, just in unfamiliar colors. [Read more 🡒]
New Lane Kiffin Book Adds A Messy Twist To Alabama Era
Lane Kiffins Alabama run has always carried a certain mythology, but an excerpt from John Taltys upcoming book, Lane Being Lane, adds a messier layer to that chapter under Nick Saban. The book revisits Kiffins years as the Crimson Tides offensive coordinator and frames them as a period when his talent and reputation traveled together, with the off-field side of his life drawing as much attention as the plays he helped produce.
The excerpt relies on recollections rather than official explanations for any personnel decisions, but it paints a picture of a coach Saban had to manage closely during a difficult personal stretch. It also points to Kiffin being around Tuscaloosa bars often, a detail that underscores how complicated that era could be behind the scenes even as Alabama kept rolling on the field. [Read more 🡒]