CHARLOTTE — Bryce Young is heading back to Title Town for the weekend to serve as celebrity guest picker on ESPN's College Gameday show ahead of No. 6 Alabama hosting No. 2 Georgia. The NFL schedule and college football seem to align, since Young and the Carolina Panthers have a bye week this weekend.
This will be Young's first time as the guest picker on Gameday, and he'll join his former college coach, Nick Saban, one of the show's analysts. ESPN announced the selection Thursday afternoon, with Young calling in to celebrate and preview his cameo.
Young won the 2021 Heisman Trophy with the Crimson Tide, the same season he was a consensus All-American. He led the SEC in passing yards and passing touchdowns, quarterbacking Alabama to an SEC Championship. The team fell to Georgia in the National Championship. He won a National Championship with Bama in 2020, albeit as a backup QB to Mac Jones.
This season brought some of Young's former college teammates to Charlotte. He reunited with receiver John Metchie III, who had a 1,000-plus-yard season with Young during his Heisman year. The two have already connected for five receptions (all first downs) for 56 yards and a touchdown in three games.
The Panthers also signed corner DeVonta Smith to the practice squad. He finished his career at Notre Dame, but he spent his first two seasons facing Young in practice in Tuscaloosa.
When Dave Canales was first hired in 2024, he mentioned early on why he enjoys having former Alabama and Nick Saban players on his team.
"There's a toughness to them," Canales said in February 2024. "It feels like they know what they're there for, to play ball. There aren't a lot of questions asked about what you ask them to do. They show up, and they do what they're asked; they know it's their job, and they take pride in it."
From Will Anderson with the Houston Texans to Jahmyr Gibbs and Jameson Williams last Sunday with the Detroit Lions, joint training camps and recent games have served as mini-Alabama reunions for Young, Metchie, and a host of college teammates.
It's a nostalgic week for Young and Alabama fans. He, among others, will also appear in a documentary about Nick Saban, premiering Thursday night, October 8. The project has been in the works for some time; Young filmed his part over the 2025 offseason. It spans Saban's entire life and career, during which he won seven national titles.
Young appears alongside many of Saban's best-known players, including Julia Jones, Mark Ingram, Jalen Hurts, and Tua Tagovailoa. You can watch it on ESPN or Hulu.
You can catch Young on College Gameday Saturday morning. The show begins at 9 a.m. EST on ESPN and will be broadcast live from Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa (it has been moved inside due to the remnants of Hurricane Isaias predicted to pass through central Alabama Saturday morning). The celebrity guest picker typically joins the set around 11:45 a.m. EST.
The top 99 photographs of No. 9. Peruse through a collection of the subjectively-best photographs of our QB1, Bryce Young.
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