Florida State quarterback Thomas Castellanos added plenty of spice to the 2025 season opener against Alabama when he openly questioned whether the Crimson Tide were still the same powerhouse team they were under Nick Saban. His comments immediately caught the attention of new Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer and current players — but it’s what two former Alabama stars said that truly underlined Castellanos’ point.
Former Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron and running back Trent Richardson discussed Castellanos’ remarks during an episode of the Alabama podcast “The Dynasty.” Ironically, while trying to defend Alabama’s reputation, they only reinforced what Castellanos said.
Shortly after the 1:30 mark of the episode, McCarron and Richardson started criticizing FSU’s performance last year and Castellanos’ time at Boston College. They didn’t seem to realize that Castellanos’ struggles there were largely due to Bill O’Brien refusing to let him use his biggest weapon: his running ability.
What stood out most, though, was how both former stars kept harking back to their own playing days more than a decade ago under Nick Saban. They talked about how dominant Alabama was during their era and the caliber of players they had back then — but offered nothing about the current team’s issues.
Neither mentioned Alabama’s struggles last season, when the Tide lost four games, including two to teams that barely made bowl games. They also overlooked the fact Alabama will start a new, inexperienced quarterback in a hostile environment in Week 1. FSU, meanwhile, comes into the game as an 11.5-point underdog — but it’s worth remembering that even bigger underdogs like Vanderbilt (+22.5) and Oklahoma (+14.5) stunned Alabama last season.
That’s precisely Castellanos’ point: The Alabama of recent years is not the same juggernaut it was under Saban.
FSU certainly has more talent than the Vanderbilt team that upset Alabama in 2024, and is at least on par with the Oklahoma squad that did the same. Week 1 games are notoriously unpredictable, and while an FSU upset isn’t guaranteed, it’s clear Alabama hasn’t been the same dominant force lately.
So while McCarron and Richardson tried to shut down Castellanos’ comments by reminiscing about the past, they inadvertently highlighted exactly what FSU’s quarterback was saying — that Alabama just isn’t the Alabama of old.
FSU QB Castellanos Calls Out ‘Not the Same’ Alabama, AJ McCarron & Trent Richardson Unwittingly Prove Him Right”
