Ryan Williams won’t be 17 anymore when the 2025 Alabama football season begins. The Crimson Tide wide receiver, the most famous minor in college football during his true freshman year, will be facing enormous expectations as a sophomore, with a new quarterback and facing defenses that have plenty of tape on him.

MOBILE, Ala. — Kalen DeBoer knows Alabama football has to be better. Standing outside of Hancock Whitney Stadium for the 2025 Senior Bowl, the Alabama football coach harkened back to his expectation for the Crimson Tide when he first took the job: to perform at a championship level.

Ray Perkins, who started with an 8-4 record in 1983, led the Crimson Tide to a 5-6 record in 1984 with losses to Boston College, Georgia Tech, Vanderbilt, Georgia, Tennessee and LSU. Alabama entered the season No. 9 in the AP poll, and finished the season unranked.

Kalen DeBoer’s first season as Alabama football’s head coach didn’t meet expectations. There’s plenty of places where a nine-win season and a bowl appearance would be cause for celebration under a new coach, but Tuscaloosa isn’t one of them, especially after Nick Saban’s tenure.

Alabama football coach Kalen DeBoer spoke about Ryan Grubb, Jason Jones and many other topics during a visit to the 2025 Senior Bowl.