Division Western Division AP No. 2 Head coach Nick Saban (10th year) | Coaches No. 2 2016 record 14–1 (8–0 SEC) | |
Conference Southeastern Conference | ||
The 2016 Alabama Crimson Tide football team (variously "Alabama", "UA", "Bama" or "The Tide") represents the University of Alabama in the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. This season marks the Crimson Tide's 122nd overall season, 83rd as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and its 25th within the SEC Western Division. They play their home games at Bryant–Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama and are led by tenth year head coach Nick Saban.
Contents
Previous season and offseason
In 2015, Alabama came into the season ranked No. 2 in both preseason polls and finished the regular season 12–1, 7–1 SEC, with their only loss to Ole Miss again. The Crimson Tide won the Western Division of SEC and qualified to play in the 2015 SEC Championship Game against the Florida Gators. Alabama defeated the Gators, 29–15 in Atlanta, Georgia, clinching the program's 25th SEC title. As the #2 seed in the second season of the College Football Playoff, the Crimson Tide were selected to play in the semifinal game at the 2015 Cotton Bowl against #3 Michigan State of the Big Ten. Alabama beat the Spartans in a 38–0 shutout, advancing them to the 2016 College Football Playoff National Championship Game against #1 Clemson of the ACC. The Crimson Tide won the game 45–40, capturing their 16th national championship and making Nick Saban the 2nd coach in college football to win five championship titles. The Crimson Tide finished the 2015 season with a record of 14–1.
Departures
Notable departures from the 2015 squad included
2016 recruiting class
Prior to National Signing Day in February 3, 2016, eight players enrolled for the spring semester in order to participate in spring practice and included six former high school seniors and two junior college transfers. On National Signing Day, Alabama signed 18 additional players out of high school that completed the 2016 recruiting class. The class was highlighted by 19 players from the "ESPN 300". Alabama signed the No. 1 recruiting class according to Rivals.com, Scout.com and 247Sports.com and No. 2 at ESPN recruiting class.
Returning starters
Alabama had seven returning players on offense, five on defense and five on special teams that started games in 2015.
Spring practice
Spring practice began March 11, 2016. The annual A-Day game was held on April 16, 2016.
Schedule
The 2016 schedule was officially released on October 29, 2015, consists of 7 home, 4 away, and 1 neutral site game in the regular season.
Alabama will face all six Western Division opponents: Arkansas, Auburn, LSU, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, and Texas A&M. They will also face two Eastern Division opponents: official SEC rival Tennessee, and Kentucky. Alabama is not scheduled to play SEC opponents Florida, Georgia, Missouri, South Carolina or Vanderbilt.
The team is scheduled to play four non-conference games, three home games against the Western Kentucky of C-USA, Kent State of the MAC, Chattanooga of the FCS' Southern, and travel to Arlington, TX to play USC of the Pac-12 for the Advocare Classic at AT&T Stadium, a non—conference game at a neutral site.
Defense
Key: POS: Position, SOLO: Solo Tackles, AST: Assisted Tackles, TOT: Total Tackles, TFL: Tackles-for-loss, SACK: Quarterback Sacks, INT: Interceptions, BU: Passes Broken Up, PD: Passes Defended, QBH: Quarterback Hits, FF: Forced Fumbles, FR: Fumbles Recovered, BLK: Kicks or Punts Blocked, SAF: Safeties