Yahoo says we picked up our second running back commit in this 2026 class and I am sitting here thinking about what a ruunning back used to be in this program. You watch these highlight reels now and it is all zone reads and RPOs and quarterbacks running the ball thirty times a game. That is not Alabama football to me. That is not what built this program.
I think back to the 1992 season when we had Derrick Lassic and Sherman Williams in that backfield and we would line up in the I formation and run the option right at your throat. Coach Stallings understood something that these spread guys will never understand. The option game is about toughness. It is about the fullback reading the defensive end and the quarterback making that split second decision and the tailback taking the pitch and turning upfield into a safety who has been thinking about that hit for three quarters. You cannot simulate that in practice. You cannot teach that in a seven on seven drill.
We ran the option against Florida in that 1992 SEC Championship Game and Shane Matthews could not get off the field because we held the ball for thirty eight minutes. That is what the option does. It controls the clock. It controls the tempo. It demoralizes a defense. You watch teams like Georgia Tech under Paul Johnson back in the day and they gave everybody fits because nobody wanted to defend that triple option for four quarters.
Now everything is about spacing and tempo and throwing the ball sixty times. I miss the days when we would run the veer option and the fullback would lead through the hole and the quarterback would ride him and either pull it or give it and the whole stadium would hold their breath waiting to see where the ball ended up. That was football. That was the sport I fell in love with watching Coach Bryant's teams in the late seventies.
I know the game has changed. I know you cannot win with the option alone in this era. But I will tell you what. When we get that running back commit who can run between the tackles and catch the pitch and turn the corner, that kid understands what Alabama football is supposed to look like. The option game is not dead. It is just waiting for somebody to have the guts to bring it back.