Casagrande: I was right about Alabama football panic
This is an opinion column.
Apology accepted.
It takes a lot to admit being wrong, so I won’t judge anyone who didn’t heed my warning. The date was Sept. 9, 2025, and the Alabama football panic was reaching new levels of delusion.
Fire everyone.
Bench them all.
Get in the lab and see if a young Nick Saban can be cloned to save the downfall of humanity.
It came from all directions and through all avenues of communication. A 73-0 beating of Louisiana-Monroe wasn’t enough to salve the Seminole wounds and this columnist had seen enough.
Casagrande: Relax, Alabama. Give Kalen DeBoer a chance and step off the ledge.
That was the headline of the column seven Tuesdays ago in response to the spiraling insanity. It acknowledged the understandable discontent still oozing from Labor Day weekend while calling for some kind of reset.
Enough of the tantrum, essentially.
That’s not to say I had some fundamental questions about what the Florida State loss meant. The point was that the mob was connecting too many dots without giving the seeds proper time to germinate.
Well, it’s now harvest season.
Safe to say the yield is bountiful.
Those who regained their composure were rewarded with a seven-game run that recast the program’s outlook.
While acknowledging significant work remains for a program that doesn’t measure success in October.
It can take a moment to appreciate the distance traveled from Tallahassee to Saturday’s win in Columbia, S.C.
The 29-22 thriller at South Carolina marked a third road win since falling at Florida State. It was an answer to two legitimate questions that haunted DeBoer’s Alabama teams from Year 1 and into Week 1 of the second.
They failed in let-down opportunities coming off big wins on the road against unranked teams. See Vanderbilt and Oklahoma last year. FSU was an unranked host for an Alabama team with offseason momentum that delivered the bolt of lightning for so much of the negativity.
So, this group’s ability to find the winning moment once again was another answer to the September doomsday preppers.
All three of these road wins came in single-score games with a combined margin of 13 points. The Tide built leads in the first two and hung on while having to come from behind late at South Carolina.
They’ve done it different ways, and that matters.
While far from perfect, Season 2 of the DeBoer experiment is proving a few theories while backing the investments made.
Possibly even rewarding some … patience.
That was especially true for the Alabama defense.
All that unit did was supply the game-sealing interception at No. 14 Missouri and the game-shifting forced fumble Saturday. It’s a group that still allows too many chunk plays but has snatched 14 turnovers in eight games and allows the second-fewest points in SEC games.
They simply find a way to win in winning time.
The same is true on offense, where it finds a way to mask the absence of a traditional running game. Creativity and a balanced passing attack led by a veteran quarterback, unmoved by high-pressure moments, have lifted this team into its own identity.
It just took a little more time.
The best meals, after all, are cooked with care and not in the microwave.
Still, the early September panic was understandable.
So was some of the backlash to that Sept. 9 column because any husband can testify that just relax isn’t the best peace-negotiating tactic.
It was a gamble.
No doubt, it would’ve been thrown in my face had this renaissance failed.
Your anger was logged and archived.
So too was your apology.
It takes a lot to admit the flamethrowing anger of September was an overreaction.
No hard feelings.
And you’re welcome.
Jess Girod Records Sweet Video Diary for Gabi Elnicki’s Engagement: ‘You’re About to Get Proposed To’
Bachelor Nation got to know Jess Girod on Season 9 of “Bachelor in Paradise” and Season 27 of “The Bachelor,” where she met her good friend Gabi Elnicki.
Gabi found love off-screen, and just got engaged to longtime boyfriend Zach Espinosa in a beautiful beach proposal.
And now, Jess has taken to social media to reveal that not only was she there for Gabi’s engagement, but she also recorded a sweet video diary of the moments leading up to the proposal.
Photo: Instagram / @dehaanphoto
In a new video online, Jess showed herself getting ready and shared, “Hey Gabi, happy engagement day! You have no idea you’re about to get proposed to in literally a few hours, but I do!”
Jess continued and gave some details about the proposal plan, including why Gabi thought she was going to the beach originally.
She said, “Right now you’re on your way from Newport to San Diego. You think you’re doing holiday photos with your family, but in reality, you’re about to get proposed to! I feel like you have an idea, but I really hope that you’re still shocked, I don't know we’ll see. Because you’re so smart, I know that you’re reading into everything.”
Instagram / @dehaanphoto
Jess went on, “From what I’m gathering from the plan, we’re gonna hide while all this happens and then we’re going to pop out. I’m going to turn my location off just so that you don’t track me. Because you never know. Why am I so nervous? Like why am I nervous? Next time I see you, you’re an engaged woman. I’ll see you soon!”
The video diary then shows Jess and their other friends at the beach with a bouquet of flowers as they hide and watc Zach pop the question to Gabi.
The Bachelor Nation star wrote, “A video diary to my ENGAGED FRIEND…Love you pookie!!! Still crying thinking about it 😭💘 @Gabriella Elnicki”
Gabi commented on the video, “Stop I’m crying” and fans chimed in with things such as, “This is so sweet!!” and “I would die for a bestie like this 😭.”
We love Jess and Gabi’s friendship and we can’t get enough of this sweet video. Congratulations again to Gabi and Zach on their engagement!
