The 2024 season marked Alabama football’s first without head coach Nick Saban in nearly two decades. It was perhaps not a coincidence then that the Crimson Tide failed to win 10 games in a season for the first time since 2007, as Alabama entered something of a transitional phase under first-year coach Kalen DeBoer.

However, former Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy does not think the Crimson Tide will be down for long.

“I like what they have coming back, I like the continuity,” McElroy said in a new video for ESPN College Football. “I think you might be getting in on the ‘underrated’ Alabama team going into the season, which is seldom the case for the Crimson Tide.”

McElroy explained that it was natural for people “on the outside looking in” to view Alabama’s first season under DeBoer as a disappointment after the Crimson Tide enjoyed sustained success under Saban. And he further acknowledged that there were low moments for Alabama in 2024, such as the 40-35 upset loss to Vanderbilt, the nationally-televised 24-3 loss to Oklahoma and the ReliaQuest Bowl defeat to Michigan.

But victories over Georgia and LSU — the latter at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge — showed Alabama’s potential under DeBoer. The Crimson Tide return practically their entire starting defense from 2024, and DeBoer is enjoying the quarterback competition between Austin Mack, Keelon Russell and Ty Simpson.

When looking at Alabama’s schedule, McElroy said he would not be surprised if the Crimson Tide began the season 3-0 before a trip to Athens to face Georgia. But regardless of whether Alabama loses that blockbuster clash at Sanford Stadium, McElroy thinks Alabama will benefit from a “pretty manageable” home schedule, as teams like Wisconsin, Vanderbilt, Tennessee and Oklahoma come to Bryant-Denny Stadium this time around.

“You look at Bama trying to get to that 10-win plateau again, I like their chances,” McElroy said. “But it starts by being undefeated at home, and it also starts by making sure that they play up to their potential on the road, which they did not always do a year ago.”