Former Crimson Tide player just called out Nick Saban and Alabama football with a not-so-subtle shot regarding competitiveness
Earl Little Jr. barely played at the University of Alabama, but he had a lot to say when asked about his new home at Ohio State.
For whatever reason, a few former Alabama Crimson Tide players turned Ohio State Buckeyes have decided that with their new platform in spring ball, they will take shots at the University of Alabama.
It started with James Smith, who took a shot at Alabama’s practice habits when comparing them to those of Ohio State, and now a player who barely played for the Tide, and did so for Nick Saban’s last two years in Tuscaloosa, has something to say as well.
Former Alabama Safety Earl Little Jr. says Alabama doesn’t compete like OSU
“At Alabama, we didn’t compete in the weight room how we do here. With everything you’re doing at Ohio State, you’re gonna compete and you have to be at your best every single day,” Little Jr. told Chase Brown of 11 Warriors.
The comments are very odd for several reasons. Firstly, Little was at the University of Alabama in 2022 and 2023. Nick Saban was still the head coach at the time.
Say what you want about the culture post-Saban and the efforts of Kalen DeBoer to get Alabama back where it belongs, but no one is going to believe that Alabama wasn’t competing at absolutely everything when Saban was running the show.
It has been documented that Alabama has monitors that show the numbers of players’ lifts and times in rank of highest to lowest to breed competition. Beyond that, however, Little Jr. barely played for the Crimson Tide.
He registered just two total tackles for Alabama in 2023. He transferred to Florida State and played there in 2024 and 2025, and he parlayed those years into another transfer to one of the best programs in the sport with Ohio State.
So I don’t know if he got FSU and Alabama confused, or if he just wanted to take a shot at Alabama for not playing him more, but the comments come off as misguided, to say the least.
