Alabama football has had a tough stretch the past couple weeks.
The Crimson Tide has lost two of its past three games under new coach Kalen DeBoer, and the lone win against South Carolina almost ended in disaster. It marks the first time since 2007 that Alabama has lost two games before November.
Despite the recent struggles, Alabama athletics director Greg Byrne joined The Paul Finebaum Show on SEC Network on Friday and expressed confidence in the future of the program.
“There will be people out there looking for cracks in the foundation,” Byrne said. “I truly believe for the long haul for Alabama football, for the University of Alabama, we’re in a really good position to have as much success as we can possibly have in the future and it’s because of the incredible job of our kids, our coaches, our fans.”
Byrne also praised former coach Nick Saban and his wife, Terry Saban, for the ways they’ve continued to support the program.
Byrne also highlighted how a coach recently told him “Greg, you didn’t hire a coach for a month. You hired a coach for the long haul, for a marathon.” And Byrne is keeping that perspective.
“So as we go through this, and to our fans who are so good and so special, we can’t thank you enough,” Byrne said. “We’re sold out tomorrow. That’s awesome. We don’t take that for granted whatsoever.”
No. 15 Alabama will face No. 21 Missouri on Saturday (2:45 p.m. CT, ABC) at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Although Byrne remains confident in the future of the program, he understands there are opportunities to get better.
“Did a game go the way we wanted it to in Nashville? No,” Byrne said. “Vandy deserves credit for that. But at the same time too, I’m dang proud about where we are and I’m dang proud of what we have ahead of ourselves.”
Byrne said he believes DeBoer is “absolutely focused” on discipline and structure, having seen it firsthand.
“They’re coaching to get better every single week,” Byrne said. “There are teams we’ve had in the past that have struggled different times of the year and gotten better. I have full confidence that we’re going to continue to get better every single week.”
Finebaum ended the interview asking Byrne if he has seen anything that has changed his opinion on DeBoer, and Byrne had a simple but direct answer.
“Not a bit,” Byrne said.
Nick Kelly is an Alabama beat writer for AL.com and the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X and Instagram.
