Former Alabama WR Marquis Maze wants Crimson Tide fans to move on from famous era
“LANK” has been a popular battle cry for the Alabama Crimson Tide these last couple of years. If you ask former Crimson Tide wide receiver Marquis Maze, it’s time to retire the phrase and welcome a new era of football in Tuscaloosa.
Maze played for Alabama between 2008 and 2011, winning a couple of national titles in the process. He took to social media on Friday asking Bama fans to leave the catchphrase behind.
“Bama fans it’s time to let the Lank thing go. Every year each team created their own mission statement. I hope this year team create their own identity but do it to the Bama standard Roll Tide Bama by Fiftyyyy,” Marquise Maze said.
LANK is an acronym that former quarterback Jalen Milroe and cornerback Terrion Arnold came up with in 2023. It stands for "Let a Naysayer know."
After the Crimson Tide lost a September home game to Texas and looked sluggish in a couple other matches, Milroe and Arnold started using the acronym to rally the team around it.
Alabama would rebound and not lose for the rest of the regular season. The Tide beat Georgia in the SEC Championship Game before losing to Michigan in the Rose Bowl, which also served as a CFP semifinal.
The rallying cry stuck in 2024, but the results weren’t as good, as the Crimson Tide missed the expanded 12-team playoff altogether.
With Milroe and Arnold gone, and former head coach Nick Saban retired, there’s little relation from the current roster and coaching staff for the phrase to stick around. After last year’s disappointing ending, fans in Tuscaloosa might be ready to move on as well.
Marquis Maze excited about Alabama hiring Ryan Grubb as OC
Marquis Maze has not been shy about sharing his thoughts about Alabama of late. Earlier this month, he lauded the team's move to hire Ryan Grubb as the team's new offensive coordinator.
"It’s about to be some long faces in college football next yr we got our Oc now and one hellva QB room.#Bamabyawholelot Roll Tide 🐘 "
Grubb previously worked with head coach Kalen DeBoer at Washington in 2022-23, as well as at Fresno State. He was expected to follow DeBoer to Tuscaloosa last season, but instead took the Seattle Seahawks' offensive coordinator job. He was fired in January after one season with the team.
Grubb will take over from Nick Sheridan, another former Washington coach who served as the Tide's offensive coordinator last season.