Jets Legend Joe Namath Forced to Confront Tough Reality After Alabama’s Humiliation

A 24-year-old streak just came to an end. For the first time since 2001, the Alabama Crimson Tide opened a season with a loss. Inside Doak Campbell Stadium on Saturday night, Florida State pulled off a 31-17 upset that stunned the Tide faithful. Under Kalen DeBoer, now in his second season leading the program, Alabama suddenly looked vulnerable in ways the college football world isn’t used to seeing.

Meanwhile, the numbers only paint a darker picture. This latest defeat marked DeBoer’s fourth stumble against an unranked opponent since stepping into the role. Losses to Vanderbilt, Oklahoma, and Michigan last season had already raised eyebrows, but this new one adds more fuel to the fire. To put it in perspective, Nick Saban only dropped four games to unranked teams in his entire 17-year run with Alabama.

So naturally, the fallout has reached their most famous name: Joe Namath. Namath, who won the Super Bowl with the Jets, took to X and wrote, “Well. It looks like this could be a loooong season.” And the harsh reality is more losses are coming for Alabama unless major corrections are made across several areas.

If you wonder why Joe Namath is this worried, just look at his tenure with the program. He wasn’t just another quarterback to pass through Tuscaloosa. Back in 1964, he led the Tide to a national championship and delivered a 29–4 record over three seasons. His brilliance was so undeniable that legendary coach Bear Bryant once said Namath was “the greatest athlete I ever coached.”

So from that glory days to today’s worrying signs is obvious to left the Jets as well as Alabama legend with this harsh reality check.

What went wrong for Joe Namath’s beloved Alabama?

This is not the same Alabama anymore, and opponents are no longer stepping off the bus afraid of the Crimson Tide mystique. With 4:28 left in the second quarter, linebacker Yhonzae Pierre stood over Florida State quarterback Thomas Castellanos after a tackle, despite trailing by a touchdown. That one play summed it up—a team losing its composure, failing to play as one, and slipping further away from the standard that once defined them.

No surprise then why athletic director Greg Byrne once had Mike Norvell circled as his dream replacement for Saban back in January 2024. Instead, Alabama went all-in on DeBoer, and the results haven’t matched the expectations. DeBoer now sits at 9-5 overall just 14 games into his tenure, with three of those defeats coming in his last four outings—all as a double-digit betting favorite.

And this isn’t the same confident DeBoer we saw at Washington when he stormed his way to a national championship appearance two years ago. Back then, he thrived in big games and regularly out-coached top-tier programs without Alabama’s resources. But now? Crimson Tide boosters are asking how long they can “trust the process” when the play looks this shaky. Last season, Alabama ranked seventh in the SEC in total defense at 320.1 yards per game, and DeBoer’s offseason staff changes haven’t stopped the bleeding. And now add injury concerns to it.

Then again, the cracks were already showing last year. Losing to Vanderbilt was the first real eyebrow-raiser, followed by a bruising setback against Oklahoma that exposed even deeper flaws. On Saturday night, ex-Auburn coach Gus Malzahn, now Florida State’s offensive coordinator, reopened those wounds.

He kept Alabama guessing with a rhythm of designed quarterback runs, timely play-action, and brute-force physicality. The biggest dagger came in the third quarter when Castellanos found Jaylin Lucas on a leak play for a 64-yard strike, setting up a quick score that stretched the Seminoles’ lead to 17.

Worse yet, the final nail came from one of their own. Former Tide running back Roydell Williams converted a crucial fourth-and-short in the fourth quarter, and a personal foul moments later sealed the Tide’s collapse.

Now, how Alabama responds will decide everything. For DeBoer, quarterback Ty Simpson, and a frustrated Tide roster, the only way back is to prove they can take a punch and fight again.