'Everybody's Worried About Fucking TikTok': AJ McCarron Is Fed Up With the Current State of Alabama Football

On3 — “I think, for sure, the standard that everybody was used to for so long after Alabama fans went through a bunch of hell leading up to those glorious years, I think it’s definitely a different era,” McCarron said. “I don’t think you’ll see the same standard from discipline, just things that the team seems to do. It’s a new day and age. Everybody’s worried about f—ing Tik Tok and having a reel and being on highlights for their personal self and personal gain, and how much money they can get from NIL. We just didn’t have that s–t back then. It was a team sport. You came together as a team because you had one common goal, because you knew that’s how you were going to make your money, was by winning. 

“Winning attracts people to that program, it attracts scouts, it attracts GMs, it attracts ownership to allow yourself that opportunity to go make yourself a lot of money and change your family tree for a long period of time. You can just tell. It’s not the same. I would think Bama fans should get used to that in a way of, hey, it’s not gonna be what you knew from 2008 up until last year where there was just a certain standard. That’s not a knock on the coaching staff or a knock on anybody. It’s just a different era. I think it’s something that they’re going to have to buckle up if they’re not ready for it.”

I can only imagine the wake-up call Alabama fans are having this season seeing how the other half lives. They're just now finding out that players are now more concerned with NIL money and social media than playing football. It's going to be a rough few years, gang.

And I totally get it. They had the best coach ever who was able to maintain a program with his standards even through the last few years because of his track record of shipping guys off to the NFL. But now that Nick Saban is gone, y'all are going to find out what college football is like for everybody else and it's not going to be a very fun feeling out process.

For the first time in two decades, Alabama is behind the 8 ball. Every other program in college football has had the last few years to acclimate to the new ways of doing things in college football, but Bama has been insulated by Saban. Sure, Alabama has been competitive in the NIL market and understands what's going on, but things were still done Saban's way and players were beholden to his standard. Now you have Ryan Williams making TikToks and painting his fingernails and you couple that with a few losses and people don't know what to do with themselves.

I hate to see this happening to Alabama fans. I really do. This has to be excruciating. The good news is it might only take two or three more coaches to find another one who can get this thing turned around and headed back in the right direction. So just hang in there for the next decade or so and maybe we'll see y'all on the way back up in no time.