Alabama football countdown to kickoff: 59 days

If you can believe it, we are officially under the 60-day mark until Alabama is back on a live-game football field. After coming up short in the national championship game against Georgia back in early January, the Crimson Tide will once again be searching for its seventh title under Nick Saban.

This year’s season opener will be against the Utah State Aggies on Sept. 3 at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

With today being July 6, that means we are only 59 days away from the return of Alabama football. The team here at BamaOn3 is ready to celebrate every day of the countdown standing between now and the start of football season. Let’s focus on a player — both past and present — who represents — or has represented — the No. 59.

*Note: BamaOn3 is also doing a Countdown to Fall Camp, which is only 30 days away.

Who currently wears the No. 59?

Defensive lineman Anquin Barnes Jr. will once again wear the No. 59 for Alabama. The redshirt freshman is now entering Year 2 in the program after not seeing the field during his freshman season. That shouldn’t be surprising though, as the Crimson Tide returned a lot of its production along its defensive front in 2021.

Unfortunately for Barnes, that’ll also be the case in 2022.

Phidarian Mathis and LaBryan Ray are now both in the NFL, but four defensive linemen (DJ Dale, Byron Young, Justin Eboigbe and Tim Smith) all return after playing 280 or more snaps last season. With Alabama using more of four-man fronts with two outside linebackers nowadays, there aren’t as many opportunities for defensive lineman.

Still, Barnes is a promising young player who could find himself in the rotation at some point in his career.

Coming out of high school in 2021, Barnes was rated as a four-star prospect. He was also the No. 360 player nationally, No. 35 defensive lineman and No. 13 player from the state of Alabama, per the On3 Consensus rankings. He chose the Crimson Tide over Auburn, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida and Nebraska.

Who’s a noteworthy former player to wear it?

Antoine Caldwell wore the No. 59 for Alabama from 2005-08. Some fans seem to forget about him sometimes because he first arrived in Tuscaloosa during the Mike Shula days, but he turned out to be a fantastic center for Nick Saban as well.

Interestingly enough, Caldwell played his high school football for Robert E. Lee in Montgomery (Ala.). Barnes, who now wears the No. 59 for the Crimson Tide, also starred at that same high school. The only differences are decade and position — offensive line versus defensive line.

Caldwell was a freshman All-American in 2005 while playing offensive guard for Shula. He then went on to be a second-team All-SEC selection in 2006 and a first-team selection in 2008. Caldwell was also a consensus first-team All-American for his performance anchoring Alabama’s offensive line in 2008. In his four seasons, he started 48 games, including all 14 during his senior season.

From there, Caldwell moved on to the NFL where he was a third-round pick (No. 77) by the Houston Texans. He would spent the next four seasons with the franchise before brief stints with the Buffalo Bills (2013) and Jacksonville Jaguars (2014).

2022 Alabama Football Schedule

Sept. 3 vs. Utah State Aggies (Tuscaloosa, Ala.)

Sept. 10 at Texas Longhorns (Austin, Tex.)

Sept. 17 vs. UL-Monroe Warhawks (Tuscaloosa, Ala.)

Sept. 24 vs. Vanderbilt Commodores (Tuscaloosa, Ala.)

Oct. 1 at Arkansas Razorbacks (Fayetteville, Ark.)

Oct. 8 vs. Texas A&M Aggies (Tuscaloosa, Ala.)

Oct. 15 at Tennessee Volunteers (Knoxville, Tenn.)

Oct. 22 vs. Mississippi State Bulldogs (Tuscaloosa, Ala.)

Oct. 29 – OPEN WEEK

Nov. 5 at LSU Tigers (Baton Rouge, La.)

Nov. 12 at Ole Miss Rebels (Oxford, Miss.)

Nov. 19 vs. Austin Peay Governors (Tuscaloosa, Ala.)

Nov. 26 vs. Auburn Tigers (Tuscaloosa, Ala.)

Dec. 3 – SEC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME (Atlanta, Ga.)