Ryan Williams Compares Alabama's 2025 Buy-In to Last Year's Offseason

Washington head coach Kalen DeBoer was hired two days later. But during that 48-hour period and also the couple of months that followed, many Alabama players, including numerous starters from the 2023 team, entered the transfer portal. When they committed to the Crimson Tide, they wanted to play for Saban and only Saban.

Alabama wide receiver Ryan Williams was one of these players, but he changed his mind a bit later and decided to give DeBoer a shot. However, the Crimson Tide finished with less than 10 wins this past season for the first time since 2007––Saban's first year––and more than 20 players transferred out.

"We have a lot of guys who bought in, they spent a year in the system and pretty much everyone that didn't give us their best interest is not a part of the team,” Williams told Rece Davis on the College GameDay Podcast on Wednesday. ..."[Leadership] was kind of a gray area. No one really knew what to expect going into [last] season, but this year everyone knows."

But heading into Year 2 of the Kalen DeBoer era, Williams explained that every player on the 2025 team is "completely on the Kalen DeBoer train." The reason why "everyone knows" what to expect this upcoming season is because DeBoer emphasizes player-led leadership.

"We're all about work and he gives us the opportunity to be more player-led and lean on each other," Williams said. "Don't get me wrong, he's an outstanding leader and head coach, but he definitely allows us to be more player-led. We have a leadership council, everyone is dialed in and it's just a bunch of focus."

Despite losing three captains to the NFL Draft in April, Williams said that these leadership tactics are what makes Alabama "a much better team than last year." And this has proven to work throughout the offseason as the Crimson Tide didn't lose a single player in the spring transfer portal window––a tremendous accomplishment in today's college sports world.

Additionally, the Crimson Tide signed over 10 transfers and more than 20 prospects to its 2025 recruiting class and now has a plethora of depth at several positions––an issue it had last season.

"From the bottom of our freshmen, they came in with their hair on fire," Williams said. "And you know what they say, you're only as strong as your weakest link, and I could say our weakest link––they're going to be in trouble because our weakest link ain't weak. So we're super excited."

A lot has changed for Alabama since January 2024, and while things were far from perfect last season, Williams believes that the Crimson Tide will return to its dominant form this fall.

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