Ex-Alabama Star QB Had Big Problem With Team’s Sideline Actions During FSU Loss

The Alabama Crimson Tide kicked off their 2025 season with a stunning upset loss to Florida State last Saturday in which they came out flat early on and never looked like a team that many thought would be a playoff contender this year.

Former Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron was on the team's sideline during the game and he spoke this week about something he didn't like seeing from the players after they scored a touchdown on their opening drive off the game.

"There's just no... there's no excitement," McCarron said on The Dynasty podcast via 247Sports' Mike Roda. "It was weird. I just didn't understand it, when Bama scored. It was a quick excitement, but it was just dead. It wasn't like, hey, we're going out and we're proving something right here. It was, 'Hey, kickoff team and defense.' There was just no excitement. It was such a weird, weird vibe."

He added that Alabama's defense didn't show any fight after giving up a touchdown to FSU that tied the game at 7-7.

"Especially when they go down and score quick on their first series, [the defense] comes to the sidelines and it's like, I hope the offense saves us and gets some momentum back," McCarron said. "It was almost like the defense just lost all confidence and faith, and they had this mindset of 'Oh no, they're just gonna score at will.' It was a weird, weird deal."

McCarron also blasted the defense for being soft.

"When it came to the defense, I didn't really see many dudes playing all out," he said. "Bray Hubbard plays hard, but other than that, I just thought we were soft, extremely soft."

Alabama is in a bit of a panic mode after its ugly start to the season. The Crimson Tide should be able to bounce back this week when they host Louisiana-Monroe but then later this month their schedule ramps back up when they face SEC rival Georiga on Sept. 27.

Head coach Kalen DeBoer is in just his second season at Alabama and his seat is already heating up. We'll have to wait and see if he'll be able to get his guys fired up to turn things around. If he can't, the pressure will only mount on a program that has grown used to having the highest of expectations put on it.