7. Alabama head football coach Kalen DeBoer firmly dismissed rumors linking him to the Penn State job opening, declaring, “We are extremely happy at Alabama … There’s never been any link, any conversation, any interest either way. I’m glad we can put that to bed right now.”
6. Vanderbilt quarterback and Heisman Trophy finalist Diego Pavia begged President Donald Trump to issue an executive order expanding the College Football Playoff to 16 teams, which would not be binding, lamenting the 10-2 team’s No. 14 ranking and exclusion from the 12-team field.
5. Alabama Law Enforcement Agency’s Motor Carrier Safety Unit joined forces with ICE as part of a national crackdown on trucking violations, detaining 82 individuals during commercial motor vehicle inspections primarily on rural interstates, referring 242 for immigration status checks, and identifying 12 unlicensed drivers.
4. University of Alabama student organizations, including the Leftist Collective and UA Afro-American Gospel Choir, expressed “fury” over the suspension of Black and women-centered magazines Alice and Nineteen Fifty-Six due to a non-binding anti-DEI memo from Attorney General Pam Bondi; one prominent free speech group wants the magazines reinstated, but the 1st Amendment grounds seem flimsy for that reinstatement.
3. The FBI arrested 30-year-old Virginia resident Brian Cole Jr. for planting two non-detonating pipe bombs near the Democratic and Republican National Committee headquarters in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6; he is a left-wing crank, which would eviscerate claims he was a right-wing insurrectionist.
2. The U.S. Supreme Court has now permitted Texas to implement a newly redrawn, politically gerrymandered congressional map favoring Republicans, rejecting Democrat challenges, in a 6-3 decision. The ruling lifts an injunction and allows the plan for the 2026 midterms; this ruling could impact Alabama.
1. Congressional briefings have been done over a double-tap military strike on a Caribbean drug boat where unedited video captured a second missile killing survivors attempting to salvage cargo. The video prompted Democrats such as Rep. Jim Himes (D-Wash.) to label it “one of the most disturbing things I’ve ever seen” and to demand full footage release, while Republicans, including Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) ,defended the action as lawful self-defense against narco-terrorists. Meanwhile, overnight the Trump administration hit another boat.
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Dale Jackson is a thought leader for Yellowhammer News and hosts a talk show from 5-9 a.m. weekdays on WVNN.
