The 2023 Alabama Crimson Tide football team (variously "Alabama", "Bama", or " The Tide") represented the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and largest of the publi ...

in the

2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season The 2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season is the 154th season of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at its highest level of competition, the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). ...

. The season marked the Crimson Tide's 129th overall season, 90th as a member of the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

(SEC), and 32nd and final season within the SEC Western Division, with Texas and Oklahoma joining the SEC on July 1, 2024. They played their home games at

Bryant–Denny Stadium Bryant–Denny Stadium is an outdoor stadium in the southeastern United States, on the campus of the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. It is the home field of the Alabama Crimson Tide football team of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). Open ...

Tuscaloosa, Alabama Tuscaloosa ( ) is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in west-central Alabama, United States, on the Black Warrior River where the Gulf Coastal and Piedmont plains meet. Alabama's fifth-largest city, it had an estimated population o ...

, and were led by

Nick Saban Nicholas Lou Saban Jr. (; born October 31, 1951) is an American football coach who has been the head football coach at the University of Alabama since 2007. Saban previously served as head coach of the National Football League's Miami Dolphins ...

in his 17th and last season as head coach. Looking to build on the successes of the 2022 campaign, Alabama entered the 2023 season after winning the Sugar Bowl over

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

, and were the favorite to win the Western Division and meet the Georgia Bulldogs in the

2023 SEC Championship Game The 2023 SEC Championship Game was a college football game that was played on December 2, 2023, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. It was the 32nd edition of the SEC Championship Game. The contest featured the Alabama Crimson Tide, t ...

. They were No. 4 in the pre-season polls, but a loss to

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

and a narrow win against South Florida dropped them to No. 13 in the rankings. Alabama would recover and close out the regular season by winning its next 9 games, alongside a narrow win against Auburn in the

Iron Bowl The Alabama–Auburn football rivalry, better known as the Iron Bowl, is an American college football rivalry game between the Auburn University Tigers and University of Alabama Crimson Tide, both charter members of the Southeastern Conferen ...

, to finish with an 11–1 record (8–0 in SEC play) and meet the Bulldogs for the SEC Championship in a rematch of the 2021 contest. Alabama was victorious by a final score of 27–24 to capture their 11th SEC championship title, ending Georgia's 29-game winning streak that started after a 2021 loss, also to Alabama. The following day, final

College Football Playoff The College Football Playoff (CFP) is an annual postseason knockout invitational tournament to determine a national champion for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the highest level ...

(CFP) standings were unveiled. Alabama, alongside the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...

champions Texas, were selected ahead of

Florida State Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...

for the College Football Playoff. No. 4 Alabama was defeated by No. 1

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

in the

2024 Rose Bowl The 2024 Rose Bowl was a college football bowl game played on January 1, 2024, at the Rose Bowl (stadium), Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. The 110th annual Rose Bowl (game), Rose Bowl was one of the semifinals of the 2023–24 College Football ...

. This season marked the first time since 2007 that Alabama was not ranked #1 in any week in the

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broad ...

following the release of the final season rankings on January 9, 2024. The following day, on January 10, Nick Saban announced that he would be retiring as the Crimson Tide's head coach.

Offseason

Team departures

Over the course of the off-season, Alabama lost 45 total players. 15 players graduated, 12 declared for the

2023 NFL Draft The 2023 NFL Draft will be the 88th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players. The draft is scheduled to be held in the plaza outside of Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri, on April 27–29, ...

, while the other 18 entered the transfer portal.

Transfer portal

Outgoing transfers

21 Alabama players elected to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal during or after the 2022 season. Note: Players with a dash in the new school column didn't land on a new team for the 2023 season.

Incoming transfers

Over the off-season, Alabama added six players from the transfer portal. According to 247 Sports, Alabama had the No. 60 ranked transfer class in the country.

Returning starters

* Bowl game not played. ^ Waiting decision for 2023 season. † Indicates player was a starter in 2021 but missed all of 2022 due to injury.

Recruiting class

Alabama signed 29 players in the class of 2023. The Crimson Tide' recruiting class ranks No. 1 in the 247Sports and Rivals rankings. 23 signees were ranked in the ESPN 300 top prospect list. Alabama also signed walk-ons during national signing period. 2023 Overall class rankings

Entered NFL draft

Walk-ons

2024 recruiting class

2024 Overall class rankings

Preseason

Spring game

The Crimson Tide are scheduled to hold spring practices in March and April 2023 with the Alabama football spring game, "A-Day" to take place in

, on April 22, 2023, with the Crimson team beating the White team 30–21.

Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released

SEC media days

The 2023 SEC Media days were held on July 17–20, 2023 at Grand Hyatt in Nashville, TN. The Preseason Polls were released July 2023. Each team had their head coach available to talk to the media at the event on July 19, 2023, with Nick Saban (HC), JC Latham, (OL), Kool-Aid McKinstry, (DB) and Dallas Turner, (LB). Coverage of the event was televised on

SEC Network The SEC Network is an American multinational sports network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which operates the network, through its 80% controlling ownership interest) and Hearst Communications (which holds ...

and

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...

Preseason All-SEC teams and All-American honors

Media

First Team Second Team Third Team Source:

Coaches

First Team Second Team Third Team Source: ''Sources:''

Personnel

Roster

Coaching staff

Alabama head coach Nick Saban entered his seventeenth year as the Crimson Tide's head coach for the 2023 season. During his previous seventeen years with Alabama, he led the Crimson Tide to an overall record of 188 wins and 27 losses () and the 2009, 2011,

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

, 2015,

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

and 2020 national championships.

Graduate assistants

* Brenten Wimberly – ''Graduate assistant'' * Braxton Barker – ''Graduate assistant'' *

Jamey Mosley Jamey Mosley (born March 28, 1996) is an American football linebacker who is currently a free agent. He played college football at Alabama. Mosley was signed by the Jets as an undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a p ...

– ''Graduate assistant''

Analysts

* Dean Altobelli – ''Defensive analyst'' * Bert Biffani – ''Defensive backs analyst'' * Ryan Finck – ''Offensive analyst'' * Nick Cochran – ''Offensive analyst'' * George Banko – ''Football analyst'' * Tony Billings – ''Assistant analyst'' *

Zach Mettenberger Zachary Rich Mettenberger (born July 16, 1991) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for three seasons, primarily with the Tennessee Titans. He played college football at LSU and was selected ...

– ''Football analyst'' * Derek Dooley – ''Offensive analyst'' * Jake Long – ''Defensive analyst'' * Nick McGriff – ''Special teams analyst'' * Charlie Strong – ''Defensive analyst''

Depth chart

''True Freshman''

Schedule

Alabama and the SEC announced the 2023 football schedule on September 20, 2022. The 2023 Crimson Tide' schedule consisted of 7 home games and 5 away games for the regular season. Alabama hosted four SEC conference opponents

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

, Ole Miss (

rivalry A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

(

Third Saturday in October The Third Saturday in October is the Alabama–Tennessee football rivalry, an American college football rivalry game played annually by the Crimson Tide of the University of Alabama and the Volunteers of the University of Tennessee. The respect ...

) and arch-rival

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

(

) at home and traveled to four SEC opponents,

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univer ...

(

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

and in-state-rival Auburn for the 88th annual

to close out the SEC regular season on the road. Alabama was not scheduled to play SEC East opponents

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

(

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

(

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

South Carolina )'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

and Vanderbilt in the 2023 regular season. The Crimson Tide's bye week was during week 9 (on October 28, 2023). Alabama's out of conference opponents represented the Conference USA,

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its f ...

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

and

SoCon The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly ...

conferences. The Crimson Tide hosted three non–conference games which are against

Middle Tennessee Middle Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of the U.S. state of Tennessee that composes roughly the central portion of the state. It is delineated according to state law as 41 of the state's 95 counties. Middle Tennessee contains the ...

from the C-USA,

from the Big 12 and to close out the regular season with Chattanooga from the SoCon (FCS) and traveled against South Florida from the American.

Game summaries

Middle Tennessee

*Sources:

No. 11 Texas

*Sources:

At South Florida

*Sources:

No. 15 Ole Miss

*Sources:

at Mississippi State

*Sources:

at Texas A&M

*Sources:

Arkansas

*Sources:

No. 17 Tennessee

*Sources:

No. 14 LSU

*Sources:

At Kentucky

*Sources:

No. 18 (FCS) Chattanooga

*Sources:

At Auburn

*Sources:

vs. No. 1 Georgia

*Sources:

vs. No. 1 Michigan

*Sources:

Rankings

Awards and honors

SEC Conference Individual Yearly awards

All-Americans

Postseason

Bowl games/College Football Playoff

Senior Bowl

East–West Shrine Bowl

Tropical Bowl

NFL draft

The

NFL Draft The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...

will be held at

Campus Martius Park Campus Martius Park ( ') is a re-established park in Downtown Detroit, Michigan. After the fire of 1805, Campus Martius (from the Latin for ''Field of Mars'', where Roman heroes walked) was the focal point of Judge Augustus Woodward's plans to ...

Detroit, MI Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at the ...

. Crimson Tide who were picked in the 2024 NFL Draft:

NFL Draft combine

No members of the 2023 team were invited to participate in drills at the

2024 NFL scouting Combine 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

. † Top performer DNP = Did not participate

Alabama Pro Day

† Top performer DNP = Did not participate

References

{{Southeastern Conference football champions

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...

Alabama Crimson Tide football seasons Southeastern Conference football champion seasons

Alabama Crimson Tide football The Alabama Crimson Tide football program represents the University of Alabama (variously Alabama, UA, or Bama) in the sport of American football. The team competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Ass ...