Alabama football recently landed Notre Dame transfer Tyler Buchner to help with uncertainty at quarterback, but Nick Saban was late to the transfer portal.
Nick Saban has a problem with Alabama football entering the 2023 season. And after producing three straight first-round picks at quarterback in Bryce Young, Mac Jones and Tua Tagovailoa, it's wild to think that the man under center is the one in question for the Crimson Tide.
Alabama recently reunited new offensive coordinator Tommy Rees with Notre Dame transfer Tyler Buchner after neither Ty Simpson nor Jalen Milroe gained many fans in the spring. But even with the familiarity, relying on a player who was a disaster in the Irish's loss to Marshall and struggled overall when he was healthy last season is not exactly comforting for fans in Tuscaloosa.
When you look back, though, this could've been avoided. The transfer portal was rich with quarterback talent back in December and January, but Nick Saban and Alabama football failed to act. Now they're in this sticky situation with no real answer at QB.
Specifically, though, it's hard to look at these three quarterbacks and not feel like they were missed opportunities for Alabama football in the transfer portal.
Alabama football: 3 quarterbacks Nick Saban missed out on in transfer portal
Grayson McCall could've been a perfect fit for Tommy Rees at Alabama
Now, you're probably thinking that Grayson McCall is still at Coastal Carolina, so how is this even possible. This isn't me throwing a name like Tyler Van Dyke — who Bama was rumored to be trying to lure into the transfer portal and away from Miami — though.
McCall initially elected to put his name in the transfer portal back in December with news that his former head coach Jamey Chadwell was taking off for Liberty. However, on Jan. 1, he announced his decision to withdraw his name from the transfer portal and return to the Chanticleers for another season of questionable urine color.
There was interest from other SEC schools, namely Auburn and Florida, to try and get McCall to where it just means more, but it speaks to his desire to stay at Coastal that he turned that down and made the decision that he ultimately landed on. But we all know that Alabama football is a different beast.
Tommy Rees wasn't in Tuscaloosa at the time (more on that in a bit), but with hindsight being 20-20, it's hard not to look at McCall being in the portal and not think he would've been perfect for that offense. Given the success that Rees had with Ian Book, giving him an upgraded prototype of a similar type of player but with a better arm could've been special.
Instead, Grayson McCall is playing on teal turf and Bama is scrambling for answers.
Alabama football let another SEC school poach Devin Leary in the portal
Devin Leary was poised for a monster 2022 season at NC State according to most projections and, while he was solid over six games, it was a lesser output than expected. More pressingly, he was limited to just those six outings due to injuries. In the wake of that and with the emergence of younger options for the Wolfpack, Leary elected to move on to the transfer portal.
He was one of the most coveted commodities in the portal from the moment that he put his name in but, with Kentucky bringing back offensive coordinator Liam Coen and with the program that Mark Stoops has built, the Wildcats were ultimately able to bring Leary to Lexington.
When discussing his choice for where to transfer, Leary spoke highly of the offense, the situation to grow, and the best chance to succeed among the interested schools. That all stands to reason when you look at Kentucky.
At the same time, however, it's hard not to think about all of that and see that they are things that Alabama football could also offer — perhaps even more so. On top of that, unlike the Wildcats, the Crimson Tide would have given Leary the opportunity to compete and show his skills on a bigger stage and possibly in national championship contention.
Instead, there is no real sign that the Crimson Tide were ever involved and, as they look at the current QB room, they have to realize the error of their ways when it comes to the NC State transfer.
Alabama drug their feet changing the OC and it cost them Sam Hartman
This one has to sting the most.
Whether it was to avoid any kind of buyout or to save feelings, Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide program waited for Bill O'Brien to get hired by the Patriots before they moved to finding a replacement. That was something that Bama fans everywhere were pining for and, though they got their wish, they were late to the party.
In the end, they landed on Tommy Rees. He was hired on Feb. 3, which is just shy of a month from when Rees was a key part in getting former Wake Forest quarterback Sam Hartman to transfer to Notre Dame.
Had Saban and Alabama not been dragging their feet with moving on from O'Brien, it could've been Rees working for them to land Hartman, the best quarterback who hit the portal this offseason. After all, it's not every day that the ACC's all-time leader in passing touchdowns and second-best in career passing yards is available.
But Hartman was, looking for a final year in college with a change of scenery. He would've been well worth diving deep into the NIL funds to land and, given that he's likely eyeing boosting his NFL Draft stock, it's hard not to think that he wouldn't have been highly intrigued by what Alabama football could've done for him.
Alas, the Tide waited on offensive coordinator and, thus, didn't truly get into the mix for Hartman. And now they have to be kicking themselves given the current conundrum and who they missed out on.
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