The Auburn Tigers lost Cam Coleman to the transfer portal, with the Phenix City product committing to the Texas Longhorns. Losing the team's best receiver and top offensive recruit, on paper, of all time, wasn't all bad, though.
Not only will the locker room culture improve after Coleman's motivation waned in the final year of the Hugh Freeze era on the Plains, but the Alabama Crimson Tide missed their biggest portal target and lost to a team that will perennially outspend them.
The best part? Crimson Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer is once again seen as lowering the "Bama Standard," and now they're stuck with them after a measly lone CFP win and a 38-3 loss to the Indiana Hoosiers.
"After Alabama laid a big, fat egg in an annihilation by Indiana in the second round of the playoffs, the Tide have seen a mass exodus of players in the portal. And they aren't exactly replacing those guys with top-tier players, either," Bleacher Report's Brad Shepard prefaced before saying, "Perhaps the biggest blow came when top target Cam Coleman chose Texas over the Tide after transferring from Auburn, and the Longhorns flipped running back portal pledge Hollywood Smothers from Bama, too.
"Overall, Alabama has lost 20 players and several starters. Yes, they've gotten some good replacements in guys like defensive lineman Devan Thompkins (USC) and receiver Noah Rogers (North Carolina State) and some potential future studs like offensive tackle Ty Haywood (Michigan). But they need more juice.
"How Alabama finishes this portal class can help steer the narrative toward the positive. Right now, it's just not good enough by Bama standards."
Alabama never had a chance with Cam Coleman
Coleman literally wore Auburn gear on his Alabama visit. He gladly took the money to rock orange and blue on UAT's campus.
In many ways, you have to appreciate Coleman for that one final War Eagle moment of Crimson Tide defiance. It hammered home that Alabama never had a chance to land the former Red Devils football legend.
Whether anyone but the Longhorns did is unclear. He's now also told the Texas A&M Aggies twice in pretty definitive ways.