Alabama AD suggests rule change that would have resulted in Crimson Tide win over Vols in 2024 thanks to Tennessee fans

It appears as though a year full of losses in the state of Tennessee were enough to convince University of Alabama Athletic Director Greg Byrne to that change is needed.

If you can’t beat Vanderbilt or Tennessee on the field – which Alabama didn’t in 2024, losing to Vandy 40-35 and to Tennessee 24-17 – perhaps you can still get the win anyways.  Both fan bases rushed the field to celebrate their respective wins.

And that apparently rubbed Byrne the wrong way.  He was quoted in a recent article by ESPN as calling for more drastic penalties for when fans storm the field after wins.  He says fines aren’t enough, and forfeits by the home/winning team are an appropriate remedy.

“I don’t think from a financial penalty standpoint you can really put anything into place that would curtail it. I think it has to be other steps, other actions.

“I truly believe it – if we said that the home team, if they storm the field or the court, they’re going to lose that game right then and there, that will stop it.” – Greg Byrnes via ESPN.com

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, to his credit, did seem skeptical about the idea, saying, “I think that’s a tough proposition.”

First, let’s talk about how ridiculous it is for Byrne to suggest that.  Alabama, admittedly, has been the gold standard for the better part of the last two decades, and they were that for decades before as well.  As such, it’s a big deal to beat them, and fans will storm the field when that happens.  Conversely, it’s also not as big of a deal for Alabama when they win big games because they’ve had that level of success for a long time.  It’s not a novelty.

Accordingly, of course he’s going to want that because it’s only going to benefit his program while it will be to the detriment of a big chunk of the league.

But beyond that, it’s a truly absurd suggestion.  Putting the outcome of a 60-minute, three-plus hour college football game on the ridiculous behavior of fans, who are understandably excited and whose behavior the players can’t control, would do nothing but serve to rob the hard work of said players and reward a “victory” to a team who did not earn it on the field.

Vanderbilt and Tennessee both secured hard earned victories on the field over the Crimson Tide in 2024.  If Alabama wants to find ways to get back to winning over their conference mates from the Volunteer State, perhaps they should find a quarterback who can string together a few more scoring drives and a defense that can get off the field in the fourth quarter.

They shouldn’t get it because a group of opposing fans had a night to remember.