Are there really “villains” in college football? I suppose it depends on your perspective and memory, how you perceive your rivals and how you remember how certain games and moments went down when the stakes were at their highest.

When Scott Hall and the nWo polled WCW crowds during the late 1990s and “The Bad Guy” said “Another one for the good guys,” did that mean the rebellious pro wrestling faction really had everyone’s best interests at heart, or really just their own?

We know Nick Saban has the utmost respect for his opponents, be they players or coaches, so we know he doesn’t see anyone on the opposite sideline as a villain, even arch-rivals. Alabama fans, on the other hand, bring a different perspective to college football. They invest different emotions and will not hesitate to label themselves the heroes and everyone else the heroes of their stories each season.

Below are coaches, players and moments from the Nick Saban era we know Alabama football fans love to root against.

Jimbo Fisher

In May, the Texas A&M head coach lit the college football world on fire when he unloaded on his former boss and current SEC West rival, even calling the Alabama coach a “narcissist” for what Saban said about Texas A&M’s recruiting practices. “It’s despicable that a reputable head coach can come out and say this when he doesn’t get his way or things don’t go his way,” Fisher said. “The narcissist in him doesn’t allow those things to happen. It’s ridiculous when he’s not on top. And the parity in college football that he’s been talking about? Go talk to coaches who’ve coached for him. You’ll find out all the parity. Go dig into wherever he’s been. You can find out anything.

“Some people think they’re God. Well go dig into how God did his deal, you might find out about a guy who … a lot of things you don’t want to know. We build him up to be the czar of football. Go dig into his past or anybody who’s ever coached for him. You can find out anything you want to find out. What he does and how he does it. It’s despicable. It really is.” When asked if he had talked to Saban prior to the presser, Fisher said no and that he wasn’t planning to take any calls. “We’re done,” Fisher said. “He showed you who he is.” Since then, Fisher has insisted he and Saban are “great” and just two competitive guys speaking their minds. Fisher became the first-ever former Saban assistant to defeat his former boss head-to-head when the Aggies upset Alabama in 2021. Tide fans would love nothing more than to not only avenge that loss but give Fisher plenty to think over after his tirade set up an SEC showdown most thought would be a boat-race anyway.

Tim Tebow

Tim Tebow? A villain? No way. We know the legendary Florida Gator quarterback to be one of the good guys in college football history, still beloved in his role as an SEC Network analyst and adored when he rolls through Tuscaloosa with “SEC Nation.” Then why did Alabama fans relish “Tebow tears” when the emotional QB shed a few after Alabama dominated Florida in the 2009 SEC Championship Game? Anytime a fan base rubs it in that much, even frequently sharing photoshopped image of the teary Tebow on to a fake cover of the NCAA Football video game, it means beating him meant a lot. In fact, Tebow had bested the Tide twice, once as a backup to Chris Leak in 2007 and then again in a huge conference title game in 2008, before the Gators would go on to win the national championship against Oklahoma. A Heisman winner and one of the best players in college football history, Tebow was an unstoppable force until Bama managed to do it as they emerged as the new top dog in the sport. They just had to beat the man to be the man, as Ric Flair would say.

The Media

Rat poison! Surely, nobody in sports media really hates Alabama football. They’re paid to give their opinion. And if they believe what they say on TV or what they write online, shouldn’t we accept that as professional and objective observation? No. OK, so why do the media hate Alabama? For a decade in the Nick Saban era in Tuscaloosa, a fraction of the Crimson Tide fan base remains convinced that members of the national media have a vendetta against Alabama football. Fans take aim at guys like Colin Cowherd, Joel Klatt, Gary Danielson, Danny Kanell and even Paul Finebaum who dare to opine on the Tide, for better or worse. There is a strong media bias against their favorite team in the minds of some fans, but is that only because they don’t always hear what they want to from sports broadcasters and writers who are paid to share their opinions, even if they’re critical of a given team? And they can’t win, because when they fawn over or merely highlight success his teams have during a given season, Nick Saban dubs it “rat poison” that can have a negative effect on their performance. He has his reasons for that messaging so players don’t let success go to their heads, but still, don’t you feel sorry for the poor media just trying to do our jobs?

Gus Malzahn

Why did Auburn fire Gus Malzahn? Was he the most consistent head coach in terms of having Auburn within striking distance of a national championship annually? No. But he was the architect behind the Auburn offense that won a national title, he coached the team to the iconic Kick Six victory, he fell one play short of winning another BCS championship, he had the Tigers in College Football Playoff contention at various points and he beat Nick Saban more than anyone else did during his Alabama tenure. So, what more do you want? Alabama fans should thank Auburn for firing Malzahn because they dreaded every Iron Bowl he coached regardless of the season the Tigers had leading up to it. His tricky spread offenses flustered Saban and had influence in Alabama tweaking their own offensive identity in the modern era. Alabama went 5-3 against Malzahn, but you knew he always had something up his sleeve.

Hugh Freeze

The former Ole Miss coach had Alabama’s number for two straight seasons (and nearly three), with offensive schemes giving Nick Saban and Kirby Smart’s defenses absolute fits when run by quarterbacks like Bo Wallace and Ryan Kelly. Saban has often referenced Freeze’s five-year tenure in Oxford as a key turning point in his offensive philosophy at Alabama, as AL.com’s Mike Rodak reported. “We were struggling with pace of play, we were struggling with RPOs, we were struggling with sort of this new age of football,” Saban said in 2020. “That’s when we started to figure out, hey, if you can’t beat them, you got to join them.” The no-huddle offenses, spread formations and run-pass options you’ve seen from Alabama the last near-decade were used against them to unforeseen success by many teams, none more so than Freeze’s Rebels in 2014 and 2015. Alabama would still make the inaugural College Football Playoff and win the national title in those years, respectively, but they learned important lessons in those losses, that they better change with college football, in directions already traversed by coaches like Freeze. So does that make him more of a hero than a villain?

‘Meaningless’ Sugar Bowl games

I say “meaningless,” and plenty will disagree the way Bama fans tend to retroactively frame losses in postseason games that weren’t for all the marbles. “Alabama lost interest,” “Why would they care if the national title wasn’t on the line?” After tough losses to Utah in 2008 and Oklahoma in 2013, after the Tide played their way out of contention, fans needed to cope somehow. Had Alabama won (as they did in Capital One bowl against Michigan State and the Citrus Bowl against Michigan), you’d hear a bit more crowing. They’re only “meaningless” when you lose the games you’re supposed to win. To be fair, the reason the games felt like letdown experiences even before kickoff, is because Alabama fans didn’t want to play in a non-national title Sugar Bowl. Their expectation was BCS or bust and is now CFP or nothing. Was it a letdown for the teams? Perhaps. We won’t know until the players or coaches say so, but for teams like Utah and Oklahoma — who finally got their shot at the top program in the country on the national stage — it was anything but.

Johnny Manziel

First, remember that Alabama survived the dreaded Johnny Football experience. After he shocked the Tide in 2012, Bama went on to went the national championship. In the next season’s rematch, the Tide defeated him on his home turf. So in the end, not so bad, right? These gray hairs tell a different story. On one hand, it was a privilege to watch Manziel, a quarterback the likes of which we’d never seen up to that point, dazzle the nation with scrambling and playmaking abilities no defensive scheme could contain or predict. But the the stress he caused opposing fan bases and teams, especially Alabama’s, did a number on all who witnessed his brilliance. A worthy Heisman Trophy winner and one of the great college football quarterbacks of all time, Manziel quickly and undeniably became a thorn in the side of the Crimson Tide. You could even see the relief wash over Saban’s face after Bama defeated the Aggies in College Station in 2013, a look that praised the lord above they’d never have to face Johnny Football again.

Dabo Swinney

The future of Alabama football? The Crimson Tide’s next head coach? The mere thought makes the current Clemson coach a “villainous” figure in the eyes of fans, who cannot stomach life after Nick Saban when the iconic coach decides to retire. That doesn’t appear likely anytime soon, not after signing another huge contract extension, but when it does, will Dabo Swinney receive the first phone call as the potential replacement? Swinney is from Alabama, he played for the Tide, he coached Clemson to two national championships and beat Saban each time in the process (once in dominant fashion). These are resumé pieces you simply cannot ignore. On paper, who wouldn’t love that candidate? But, in Tuscaloosa and on social media, we’ve heard the rallying cry and hashtag “Never Dabo.” Why? First, he’s a guy who denied their team two more championships. Otherwise, some don’t love his personality, one that shows more gregarious and goofy sides, opposite to what they’ve seen the last two decades. But winning talks, and it’s a potential outcome fans must accept. And keep in mind, Swinney signed a new massive contract that includes an “enhanced buyout” provision that is 1.5 times higher should he leave Clemson at any point for Alabama, his alma mater.

Urban Meyer

A brilliant football coach and a multiple national title winner, Meyer is another coach who has played a big role in preventing the Crimson Tide from reaching the mountaintop on a few occasions. In 2008, his Florida Gators (led by Tim Tebow) stifled an undefeated Bama team’s hopes of reaching the BCS Championship, and in 2014, his Ohio State team thumped the top-ranked Tide after sneaking into the College Football Playoff with their third-string quarterback. A masterful recruiter who developed elite talent into teams that could stand toe-to-toe with Saban’s Alabama squads. Meyer’s programs also caught Saban’s at awkward periods, once when Alabama made significant strides but were still a year away and another when Saban began to transition to running a high-powered spread offense with a first-year quarterback and first-year offensive coordinator. Regardless, Meyer swooped in and was often mentioned in the same sentence as Saban as the sport’s best coach. His exits from Ohio State and most recently the Jacksonville Jaguars nly gave his detractors more reasons to root against him. Will he ever return to college football coaching?

Cam Newton

Where the Kick Six was more of a freak accident where you ripped the band-aid off and you were in shock, the Cam Newton Iron Bowl in 2010 was like a death by a thousand cuts for Alabama fans. It unfolded slowly in real-time, and all of these ominous moments crept up to indicate things would not go to plan. Bama opened up a huge lead, with Mark Ingram playing well, Greg McElroy hitting Julio Jones for a bomb touchdown pass, the defense had Newton bottled up. Not that anyone really knew what would happen, it did feel a little too good to be true. And they were, as Newton heroically led Auburn in a triumphant and historic comeback, after being down 24-0. Alabama fans certainly do not want to see Auburn succeed at anything, let alone go undefeated, win a Heisman and then a national championship. The Kick Six hurt, but it softened the blow a bit when they lost to Florida State in the title game. And it was such a blow because if Alabama can’t win a national championship, why does it have to be Auburn instead?

Newton delivered arguably the greatest individual college football season from any quarterback, period. A hero in the eyes of many, obviously and especially Auburn, but Alabama fans? They relished the thought of stopping Newton in his tracks on his way to those accolades and the success Auburn had, even amid the NCAA investigation that loomed over their magical season. They rooted against him in the BCS title game. Heck, they rooted against him when he led the Carolina Panthers to the Super Bowl (against Peyton Manning!). Newton checks every box for a would-be “villain” in the eyes of Tide fans. A generationally great player who happened to transfer to their arch-rival and unexpectedly lead them to a national championship in what were meant to be Bama’s golden years, all with a big smile on his face.

More Alabama fans:

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