Bama News : Isaiah Bond reportedly drops a bombshell and sends a strong message to Alabama

Then the unthinkable happened. Bond transferred out of Alabama shortly after Nick Saban announced his retirement from college football.

I’m not going to call Bond a turncoat villain, but it’s fair to say that his decision to double-cross Alabama left the Crimson Tide shaken and the rest of the SEC stirred.

Of all the moves we’ve seen throughout the sport of college football since January, Bond’s decision to leave hero status at Alabama for more NIL money at Texas represents the most jaw-dropping plot twist of the offseason. For me, it was even more shocking than Saban’s retirement.

Saban is 72 years old, and there were several signals throughout the 2023 season that his career was coming to an end. My Saban retirement column was ready for publication weeks before the news broke. Bond’s amazing flip took me completely off surprise.

Did a request by Bond for more NIL money from Alabama inform Saban’s decision to call it a career? Since walking away, Saban has acknowledged that the changing motivations of modern-day college football players coaxed him into retirement. When Bond arrived in Austin, Texas, after his transfer, one of the first places he visited was a local Lamborghini dealership.

Can Alabama compete with the NIL collectives out in Texas? Put it this way. The closest Lambo showrooms to Tuscaloosa are in Atlanta and Nashville. There aren’t any in Alabama.

Fans might not like the changes happening in college football, but the real truth can’t be denied. While the sport is evolving by the week, college football has never been more intriguing or popular. Over the next couple months, I’m going to write a series of columns focusing on 10 burning questions throughout the SEC and college football.

Question No.1: Will Isaiah Bond regret leaving Alabama?