Alabama's Will Anderson Jr Still Hasn't Gotten Over Loss To Georgia In NC Game

ATLANTA — It has been more than six months.

And in the meantime, Alabama superstar outside linebacker Will Anderson Jr. is making significant money for his family through Name, Image & Likeness. He has even started his own NIL-related company called "A3 Athletes" to advise fellow college athletes on agents and future contracts.

"That's my brand," Anderson said Tuesday at the SEC Media Days. "I want to help players with contracts, some of the language that can be complicated. So, if there are any athletes out there interested? A3 Athletes."

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But there is still something nagging at Anderson, a consensus All-American last year as a sophomore who won the Bronko Nagurski Award that goes to the nation's best defensive player as he led the nation with 17.5 sacks.

This is what that is - Georgia 33, Alabama 18 in the national championship game.

"I still have that feeling," Anderson said. "How we felt when we lost - just a feeling of disappointment and failure. Every game is a national championship game now."

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Utah State will have to deal with that on Sept. 3 in Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa.

Alabama returns much of its defense that finished No. 7 in the nation last year in fewest yards allowed, including Anderson's fellow outside linebackers Dallas Turner and Chris Braswell.

"We're going to be the best outside linebacker team in the country," Anderson said. "I want everybody to eat. There's a lot of dogs at outside backer, and they're all hungry."

In addition to Georgia, Anderson has a score to settle with Texas A&M, which upset the No. 1 Tide, 41-38 last season in College Station as he recorded no sacks.

"I wasn't on my game like I should've been," he said. "I beat myself up on that. That was one of the games I was really hard on myself. If we cut down on mental errors, we win that game."

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Alabama won eight straight games since that, including a 41-24 win over Georgia in the SEC Championship Game and a 27-6 win over Cincinnati in the College Football Playoff semifinal before the rematch with Georgia.

"The biggest goal for our team is always to win the national championship, and we didn’t
meet that goal last year," Anderson said. "So, last season was not the successful season that we wanted. All the the blood, sweat, and tears that we put into a season is towards getting to the national championship and winning it. Last year, we got there and we did not finish the way we wanted."