Bucking tradition, Alabama football will not release a depth chart before game day to open the 2023 season. The move comes after Nick Saban was aggravated last season by a perceived excessive focus on the depth chart.

“This may be the last time you ever get one,” Saban said after his team beat Utah State to open the 2022 season. “My biggest issue on the whole team was the day the depth chart came out. So you may have seen the last one. Y’all may have seen the last one. Because that’s all you worry about.”

Alabama still might distribute a depth chart in the press box at Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday. The Crimson Tide open the season against Middle Tennessee State that day.

Saban explained the decision on Monday, reiterating that he felt the release took focus away from the game and noting that the release of a depth chart could cause players to be discouraged when they saw their spot.

“It creates a lot of distractions on our team,” Saban said. “Creates a lot of guys thinking ‘Well this guy won the job, now I’m not gonna get to play,’ or whatever and quite frankly, we don’t need that.”

According to reporters and athletics department employees covering or working for the other 13 schools in the SEC, Alabama will be one of just three teams not releasing depth charts ahead of game day. The Crimson Tide join LSU and Texas A&M.

When asked whether the depth chart release was a distraction for the team, Crimson Tide center Seth McLaughlin said it wasn’t.

“I don’t think it distracts us at all because what we put out there may not be exactly what we’re gonna have on the first day,” McLaughlin said. “I think game-by-game coach Saban’s gonna put the guys out there that put us in the best situation to win, so whatever that says, that’s what it’s gonna be.”

Across college football, releasing depth charts early during game weeks is standard procedure, but can be somewhat shambolic. The public depth charts are often filled with “or,” denoting multiple players listed for the same position, and they are occasionally not updated with injury or suspension information.

The Crimson Tide’s season-opener is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Bryant-Denny Stadium. It will be aired on the SEC Network.