Should Alabama’s A-Day continue? Tuscaloosa mayor weighs in

Alabama scaled back its A-Day spring game in 2025, and the mayor of Tuscaloosa said Wednesday he’d be OK if it went away entirely.

In an interview with the Tuscaloosa News, Walt Maddox said the annual spring football event — which in the past has drawn tens of thousands of people to town — has become logistically difficult for the city to help manage.

“From the city standpoint, I can’t believe it. Twenty years ago, if you would have asked me, ‘Would you want to have A-Day?’ I’d say, ‘Yes,’” Maddox said. “Today, I would say, with all the things that come now surrounding it, I think it’s better for us not to have A-Day and focus on the UA-generated events that don’t require so much security personnel and other logistical support.”

The days of traditional spring games — dividing the squad in two and playing what closely resembles a regular-season contest — seem to be waning in college football anyway. Alabama is one of several schools around the country, including fellow traditional powers Ohio State and Texas — who have either outright canceled their spring games or modified them into football-adjacent “fan fests” that also included an open practice.

Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer cited injury concerns as the reason his team did away with its traditional spring game in 2025. Coaches at other schools have expressed concerns about opponents using spring games as opportunities to “scout” their teams for prospects who might enter the transfer portal.

Whatever the reason, Maddox said he doesn’t ever see Alabama’s spring game reverting to something like 2007, when more than 92,000 Crimson Tide fans packed Bryant-Denny Stadium on Nick Saban’s first A-Day.

“It’ll be interesting to see the evolution of A-Day,” Maddox said. “I don’t know any information, but I don’t think A-Day will ever exist again, at least over the next 10 to 20 years, the way it has in the past.”

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