Alabama News

It’s been six months since Juan Johnson hit the ground running as James Clemens’ new head football coach.

Neither he nor his new program has slowed down since.

Johnson was hired to lead the Jets in January following a season at Baker High that saw his Hornets go 9-3 with the program’s first playoff win since 1984: a double-overtime victory against Hewitt-Trussville.

“We’ve transitioned and we’ve got some things done really well,” Johnson said. “Offseason conditioning went really well. We stayed fairly healthy, from that standpoint. We’ve got one senior that I wish could play for us; he’s out with a season-ending injury that happened back in April. Other than that, we’ve remained tremendously healthy.

“We’ve done some things really well to stay consistent and get ready for the season.”

Among the most recent offseason preparations for James Clemens include OTAs against defending Class 6A champion Parker and perennial power Clay-Chalkville.

During Wednesday’s OTA vs. Clay-Chalkville in Madison, the Jets’ defense had plenty of highlight moments in the joint workouts.

“Coach Gideon, our DC, has done a tremendous job of getting them ready this summer,” Johnson said of the defense. “Offensively, we have time in which we had success, but at the end of the day, you have to put it on when you play really elite competition. In the last two weeks, we’ve played Parker and Clay-Chalkville; they’re both the last two Class 6A state champions.

“From a competition standpoint, we want to play against the best it’s possible to play and continue in our preparation to get us ready for the 2025 season.”

When asked about the new head coach, junior running back MJ Gideon described Johnson as a “high-intensity” coach.

“It’s good,” Gideon said of the transition. “This practice is more intense, harder and everything. But, it’s going to get us where we need to be.”

Six months into his new job, Johnson said the strength of his team is the leadership from his small group of seniors; he estimated this year’s senior class has 14 athletes.

Among those are defensive linemen James Hollins and Tank Ezell, who were both recognized on the Class 7A, Region 4 all-region football team.

“I want to say we’ve got 115 players, so I’ve got 101 that are considered the underclassmen,” Johnson said. “What comes with that is you’ve got to lean on them very heavily. You want to play as many 18-year-olds as you can.

“Guys like James Hollins and Joc Dennis, they’ve done a tremendous job leading and Christian Wyatt and Alex Lively, they’ve just done a really good job of just getting kids here and understanding what we want to do.”

Gideon, who holds offers that include Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, Missouri, Tulane and Liberty, said that he’s already learned plenty from the former offensive coordinator.

“He taught me a lot of new things that I didn’t know before,” Gideon said. “It’s really just about still getting better at everything.”

Along with defensive coordinator Anthony Gideon on staff, Riley Niblett will fill the other coordinator role on Johnson’s staff.

Son of current Gainesville (Ga.) High and former Hoover, Oxford and Oneonta coach Josh Niblett, he has also had stints at Valdosta (Ga.) High, IMG Academy, Gainesville and Hoover while coaching the college ranks at Jacksonville State and Charlotte.

Other new staffers include former South Alabama wide receiver Victor McClinton (receivers coach, passing game coordinator) and Randolph assistant Jalen Williams (linebackers coach).

“I really like where we are with our staff and what we’ve got going forward,” Johnson said.

The Jets will officially open their first season under Johnson at Gardendale on Aug. 22 before their first game at Madison City Stadium against archrival Bob Jones on Sept. 5.

A recent Coldplay concert is making headlines from an awkward moment caught by the kiss-cam.

Lead singer Chris Martin provided commentary the camera showed a couple embracing during the rock band’s Music of the Spheres world tour.

Once the couple realized they were on camera, things got awkward and they separated.

The video has been viewed more than 2 millions times.

“Come on, you’re OK!” Martin said when the camera panned to the couple. “Uh oh. Either they’re having an affair, or they’re just very shy.”

“Oh, look at these two,” Martin said when the camera panned to the couple. “All right, come on, you’re OK. Uh oh. Either they’re having an affair or they’re just very shy.”

Multiple news outlets, including Newsweek, are reporting the couple in question are Astronomer CEO Andy Byron the company’s chief people officer, Kristin Cabot.

Coldplay played shows Tuesday and Wednesday at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.

According to the report, Byron and his wife live in nearby Northborough.

Former Alabama football linebacker Keanu Koht made headlines on his way out of town. After leaving to enter the transfer portal midseason in 2024, he released a statement that seemed to throw shade at the Crimson Tide.

“After careful reflection and consideration, I’ve come to realize that I’ve outgrown the shoes I once wore here,” Koht wrote. “With that in mind, I have made the decision to enter my name into the transfer portal with two years of eligibility remaining. This was not an easy choice, but it’s one I believe is best for my future and personal growth.”

Koht remained in the SEC. He transferred to Vanderbilt, which beat Alabama during the 2024 season before Koht left.

Speaking to reporters at SEC media days in Atlanta on Monday, Commodore quarterback Diego Pavia was asked about how Koht has fit in with his team.

“He’s been a great addition to the defensive line,” Pavia said. “Obviously he’s twitchy, he’s fast, he uses his hands well. Sometimes he gets to me and says it’s a sack when it’s probably not. But yeah, he’s been a great addition and super excited to have him on the team.”

After last year’s stunning upset in Nashville, Koht and Vanderbilt will make the return trip to Tuscaloosa in 2025. The game has already been the center of a fair amount of trash talk, from both Pavia and Crimson Tide receiver Ryan Williams.

In Atlanta though, Pavia kept it civil.

“Obviously he’s a great competitor,” Pavia said. “The kid is naturally talented, gift from God you know? So I’ll be excited to play him in his home stadium.”

Alabama is scheduled to begin preseason practice July 30 in Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide will open the 2025 season on Aug. 30, with a trip to Florida State.

The Commodores will visit Alabama on Oct. 4.

Another season of the hit Sci-Fi/fantasy prequel Star Trek: Strange New Worlds premieres exclusively on Paramount Plus Thursday, July 17.

Those hoping to catch the return of the fan-favorite original series can stream the two-episode premiere exclusively through Paramount Plus. Cord cutters unfamiliar with Paramount Plus can enjoy a 7-day free trial before committing to a paid subscription.

What is Star Trek: Strange New Worlds?

For those unfamiliar with the hit prequel, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is based on the years Captain Christopher Pike manned the help of the U.S.S. Enterprise. The series features fan favorites Anson Mount as Captain Christopher Pike, Rebecca Romijn as Number One and Ethan Peck as Science Officer Spock.

The series follows Captain Pike, Science Officer Spock and Number One in the years before Captain Kirk boarded the U.S.S. Enterprise as they explore new worlds around the galaxy.

Season three kicks off with Pike and his crew as Pike leads a risky rescue mission behind enemy lines as they landing party flees a deadly enemy.

More on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

In addition to the 10 episodes slated to release for season three, Paramount has announced that season four is currently in production, and the series has also been renewed for a fifth and finale six-episode season ahead of the season three premiere.

How to watch Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3

As mentioned previously, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is available for streaming exclusively through Paramount Plus, and those not yet committed to a paid subscription can enjoy a 7-day free trial before subscribing to a paid plan.

What is Paramount Plus?

Paramount Plus is one of the most popular live streaming services on the market now. Through Paramount Plus, subscribers can access exclusive originals, movies and documentaries all in one place.

As of now, Paramount Plus offers two plans to new subscribers, and both come with a week-long free trial. The base plan, Paramount+ Essential starts at just $7.99 a month and includes exclusive originals, the ability to stream on up to three devices concurrently, access to CBS News 24/7, and access to select Showtime series. This plan is also ad-supported.

The Paramount+ with Showtime plan starts at just $12.99 a month and includes everything that comes with the Essential plan plus 4K content, downloadable movies and shows, and all of Showtime’s content. Those hoping to ditch ads can do so through this plan.

Netflix released the official trailer for season 5 of “Stranger Things,” the final season of the wildly popular show. The trailer is intense, as might be expected, since the people of Hawkins, Ind., are trying to save the world from Vecna.

Watch it below.

The Netflix synopsis says: “The fall of 1987. Hawkins is scarred by the opening of the Rifts, and our heroes are united by a single goal: find and kill Vecna. But he has vanished — his whereabouts and plans unknown. Complicating their mission, the government has placed the town under military quarantine and intensified its hunt for Eleven, forcing her back into hiding. As the anniversary of Will’s disappearance approaches, so does a heavy, familiar dread.

The final battle is looming — and with it, a darkness more powerful and more deadly than anything they’ve faced before. To end this nightmare, they’ll need everyone — the full party — standing together, one last time.”

The trailer shows military operations, explosions, Demogorgons, the surreal Upside Down and our favorite cast members fighting evil. The children, now grown, are played by Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Noah Schnapp, Sadie Sink, Joe Keery, Maya Hawke. Winona Ryder and David Harbour return as the adults who aid the kids in their battles.

In the trailer, Hopper (David Harbour) says to Eleven: “I need you to fight one last time.”

The show will be released in parts in November and December.

It’s been nine years of alternating between exciting episodes of the massively successful show and long stretches of waiting for new installments but it looks as if the end will really come in 2025. Netflix verifies on its website that this will be the final season.

According to a video announcement for season 5, the four episodes that make up “Volume 1” will drop Nov. 26, the three episodes in “Volume 2” on Christmas Day and the last episode, the “Finale,” on New Year’s Eve.

The show has been largely filmed in small towns around Georgia, which collectively serve as Hawkins, the town where a ragtag group of kids take on the Upside Down, demogorgons and government conspiracies in the 1980s. Click here for a list of filming locations you can visit, including some from season 5.

The nostalgic sci-fi show created by the Duffy Brothers has garnered record viewership for Netflix.

Ten communities throughout the state of Alabama are joining a nationwide protest effort on July 17 in response to recent ICE raids and health care cuts carried out by the Trump administration.

The event has been dubbed the “Good Trouble Lives On” national day of action in honor of civil rights leader and Alabama native Congressman John Lewis, who coined the phrase and used it frequently throughout the Civil Rights Movement.

According to the protest website, Good Trouble refers to “the action of coming together to take peaceful, non-violent action to challenge injustice and create meaningful change.”

“We are facing the most brazen rollback of civil rights in generations,” the site reads.

“Whether you’re outraged by attacks on voting rights, the gutting of essential services, disappearances of our neighbors, or the assault on free speech and our right to protest- this movement is for you.”

Over 1,600 communities across the U.S. have organized protests for Thursday.

So far, the cities of Birmingham, Center Point, Cullman, Fort Payne, Montgomery, Dothan, Mobile, Fairhope, Anniston, and Auburn have scheduled July 17 protests in Alabama.

Those interested in RSVP’ing for a Good Trouble protest near them have been encouraged to visit the site’s map to sign up.

On Thursday, people will take to the streets to protest Trump’s immigration crackdown, which has led to the deportation of over 100,000 individuals.

“We are navigating one of the most terrifying moments in our nation’s history,” Public Citizen co-president Lisa Gilbert said during an online news conference Tuesday.

“We are all grappling with a rise of authoritarianism and lawlessness within our administration … as the rights, freedoms and expectations of our very democracy are being challenged.”

Public Citizen, a group partnering with Good Trouble for Thursday’s protest, is a nonprofit dedicated to taking on corporate power, according to its website.

Protestors are also coming out against the Trump administration’s recent decision to slash $600 billion in Medicaid funding under his “big, beautiful bill.”

Opponents of the bill say it could leave millions of Americans without healthcare and further burden the nation’s struggling rural hospital systems.

After an ACL injury ended his 2024 season against Oklahoma, Alabama football linebacker Deontae Lawson was down. After planning to forgo his final season and enter the NFL Draft, suddenly, the Mobile native was forced into surgery, rehab and another year in Tuscaloosa.

After a successful surgery, Lawson began working with UA’s head athletic trainer, Jeremy Gsell.

“That’s my guy, man,” Lawson told reporters Wednesday at SEC media days in Atlanta. “He’s Alabama’s trainer. He’s like that father figure in the medical room. So yeah, I think it’s been great. Definitely not easy, with the help of them, and Jeff (Allen) obviously, from Alabama, they definitely helped me and just pushed me in ways that I didn’t know that I could go in.”

Gsell has worked at Alabama since 2006. He has served as the Crimson Tide’s director of football rehabilitation since 2016, according to his LinkedIn page.

According to Lawson, Gsell was extraordinarily helpful during his long rehab.

“I kind of want to go back to Jeremy,” Lawson said unprompted in Atlanta. “Because, man, he’s just such a genuine guy and you know he cares. Just coming in every day in the morning, if I’m not having the best morning, he can tell instantly. I’m not smiling like I usually am, he’ll make sure I get my things done and also he’ll put a smile on my face before I leave. So yeah, much love for him. Much love for everybody at Alabama, I’m just super grateful.”

Lawson said he fully trusted the medical staff in Tuscaloosa, contributing to his decision to return. He served as one of the Crimson Tide’s captains last season, finishing the year with 76 total tackles, including two sacks.

Speaking to reporters earlier on Wednesday, Kalen DeBoer praised the veteran’s resiliency, sharing how Lawson has stepped up in leadership recently.

“I walked into a meeting, looking for a coach actually,” DeBoer said. “I walked in. It was him holding a meeting with the linebackers I guess yesterday morning. Listened for about 30 seconds. I knew that meeting was in a good position. Coaching it like a coach. When you have guys on the field that are like him, that understand the depth, the details, you know you’re headed in the right direction and have a chance.”

Lawson, who missed spring practice as his rehab continued, said he likely won’t be taking every rep to begin preseason camp. However, he rated his health as a nine out of 10, and said he’ll certainly be ready to start the season against Florida State.

“Just stay the course,” Lawson said of his mindset. “Keep your head down. Every day is not going to be pretty, but it’s a rainbow at the end.”

Alabama is scheduled to begin preseason camp on July 30. The Crimson Tide opens the 2025 season Aug. 30, with the trip to Florida State.

Bryan Braman, who won a Super Bowl with the Philadelphia Eagles and also played for the Houston Texans, died Thursday at the age of 38.

Agent Sean Stellato confirmed Braman’s death Thursday, after the former NFL player sought treatment from an aggressive form of cancer he learned about in February.

“Bryan, people saw this enormous human being, but his heart was big as his body,” Stellato told KPRC 2 in Houston. “His spirit was so motivating. He was so real and genuine with everybody. That made him special.

“It’s hard. I feel like I lost my firstborn. This kid, he gave me his bed every time I came to Philadelphia. He would threaten me if I didn’t stay with him. That’s something I’ll always cherish. My heart hurts today.”

Braman had multiple surgeries as part of the treatment in Seattle, according to a GoFundMe page.

Braman leaves two daughters, ages 11 and 8.

“Rest in Peace brother,” Watt wrote on social media. “Gone far too soon.”

Mark Heim is a reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim. He can be heard on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5 FM in Mobile or on the free Sound of Mobile App from 6 to 9 a.m. daily.

A large part of the crowd was gone by the time Eli Drinkwitz took the stage at SEC Media Days on Thursday morning, which is a shame, because the Missouri coach might have been the most-entertaining speaker of the week thus far.

Drinkwitz’s Tigers are coming off back-to-back double-digit win seasons, including a 10-3 finish with a Music City Bowl victory in 2024. And yet, Missouri continues to be overlooked in the SEC “conversation” in favor of more tradition-rich or high-profile programs.

But the well, witty Drinkwitz came out firing on Thursday. The first words out of his mouth were a dig at the SEC for accidentally playing Texas A&M’s fight song as Texas coach Steve Sarkisian took the stage on Tuesday.

“Well, we got the right fight song,” Drinkwitz said. “That’s an improvement.”

Drinkwitz also made light of the sparse attendance on the fourth and final morning of SEC Media Days. He noted he’d just returned from a family vacation at Disney World before referencing various conspiracy theories.

“Y’all remind me a little bit of Disney World,” Drinkwitz said, “Tired, ready to go home, tired of coaches whining up here. So good morning to everyone. You know, I was very excited about the opportunity to come to SEC Media Days, which marks the end of vacation season, which is one of the two main reasons that I coach college football — free gear and vacations.

“But just as a reminder, I’m not going to answer any questions about the Epstein Files, whether about the Radiation Belt, and whether or not it was possible for Lee Harvey Oswald to get three shots off in succession in seven seconds. I don’t have time to answer all those questions, but I will answer questions about Mizzou football.”

But Drinkwitz reserved his most-thoughtful — and longest — answer for discussion of future expansion of the College Football Playoff and the SEC’s possible move from an eight-game to nine-game conference schedule. He said he might be in favor of CFP expansion beyond even 14 or 16, as appears likely as soon as next year.

“This is not going to do me any favors with our commissioner,” Drinkwitz said. “When I think about college football right now and think about what do we need to do, I think it really comes down to two things: what’s best for our players and what’s best for our fans.

“The rest of us are really only important because of the players and the fans. And so when you think about whether it’s 12, 14, or 16, to me, if we’ve decided to go into this expansion of playoffs and we’re trying to follow an NFL model, well, the NFL takes 44% of their teams in order to, into the playoffs to increase the passion or keep the fan base engaged.

“If we’re talking about 12, that’s 9%. If we’re talking about 14, that’s 11%. If we’re talking about 16, that’s 12%. That’s really not changing the math for the fan base. So I really don’t understand what the big fight is about.

“The other thing I don’t really understand about this — we have a lot of complaints, whether we’re talking about 68 teams in the NCAA basketball tournament, we’re complaining about the committee. Last year we complained about the committee selections. I mean, we produced all kinds of stats and handed them out about why the SEC was so good.

“Well, the problem is we have a human committee that has no standard set of, of structure of how they’re going to select. They’re all human beings. They all have implicit bias. So now we’re going to go from, from seven to 11, and we think that’s going to solve the problem until we figure out what exactly the standards are.”

On the SEC schedule topic, Drinkwitz said he’d be in favor of nine, for similar reasons.

“I think if it was about players and about fans, I think it’s a nine-game schedule for the SEC,” Drinkwitz said. “If it’s about coach preservation — which, hey man, I get it. But if we’re going to go to 11 humans deciding on a committee, which are the 11 best teams and we stay at eight (SEC games), we ain’t getting in.”

Fear is spreading that methamphetamine laced with a poisonous substance is harming and killing people in Birmingham who inject the drug.

“They are not overdosing in a way that someone would if fentanyl was mixed into the supply, so testing strips may not help in this situation,” the Recovery Resource Center posted on Facebook.

The Jefferson County Coroner’s Office said they have heard the concerns of the RRC and UAB and are investigating five suspected overdoses from Saturday through Tuesday.

“But, this does not constitute a significant increase considering our history of overdose fatalities. Autopsies performed in each case did not provide any evidence at this time to confirm or dismiss the concerns,” the coroner’s office reported.

It will be approximately four to six weeks before the coroner’s office will be able to report its findings in those deaths.

Dani Sims, assistant director of the Recovery Resource Center, said they have received reports of two people dying and four ending up in intensive care since Saturday as a result of the drug.

One was a person who only uses meth and injected the drug in George Ward Park, Sims said.

The drug is said to be brown and come in rock form and is being injected, Sims said. Drug users are urged to avoid any meth that comes in brown rock form.

Sims said one person reported that the sensation of injecting the drug “was like fire going through his body.”

That feeling is followed, Sims said, by what she called “trash fever” — chills, intestinal distress, “intense pain; things that make you feel like you are going to die.”

Sims said it is speculated that the meth is being cut with some deadly substance.

“It’s unusual,” Sims said. “Usually, the additives are filler — baby powder — things that aren’t going to harm people.”

Sims said intravenous drug users should only use with someone else present or while on the phone with the Never Use Alone hotline at 877-696-1996.

The 24/7 hotline will stay on the line with someone while they inject a drug and call emergency services if the person using the drug has an adverse reaction.

The concern over the drug can also serve as a reason for people struggling with addiction to seek help, Sims said.

“This is a better time than any to get help,” Sims said. “This is fatal.”