For the past few months, I’ve devoted my free time to reading C.S. Lewis’ series “The Chronicles of Narnia,” becoming engulfed in the adventures of Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy Pevensie as they discover and explore a whole new world of talking beasts and magical creatures.

Driving through Tuscaloosa for the first time as the new Alabama football beat writer for the Tuscaloosa News and the USA TODAY Sports Network, I couldn’t help but see my Narnia.

I’m no stranger to college football. Much of my career up to this point has been around Ohio State football, a juggernaut in its own right that Crimson Tide fans know well. I’ve interviewed Heisman Trophy contenders and All-Americans and have been in the press box for multiple editions of “The Game” between Ohio State and Michigan.

Columbus, Ohio, loves Ohio State football, plain and simple.

But as I exited I-20 West and entered Tuscaloosa for the first time, it was like entering the wardrobe for the first time. It was a whole different world, one with no overlap between where Tuscaloosa ended and the passion for Alabama football began.

Columbus loves Ohio State football. Tuscaloosa is Alabama football, plain and simple.

The SEC trope of “it just means more” made sense almost immediately.

Alabama football carries weight by itself: the history of Bear Bryant, the dominance of Nick Saban and the new era of Kalen DeBoer, the expectation of not only success, but joyless murderball, the Third Saturday in October, the Iron Bowl.

When the Crimson Tide is at its best, as it has been for much of my life, the wardrobe that is Tuscaloosa, Alabama, is the center of the college football world.

The opportunity to cover Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, one that I am so grateful for. But it’s one that is paired with an immense level of expectation. On a beat at the center of the college football universe, I know the shoes I have to fill.

Just like Susan Pevensie in Lewis’ “Prince Caspian,” there have been many instances where I have “listened to fears,” fears that Aslan the lion took away with a simple breath.

‘“Forget them,’” Lewis writes. “‘Are you brave again?’”

I know what watching Ohio State vs. Michigan feels like in both Ohio Stadium and Michigan Stadium. I know what a White Out at Penn State feels like as the rickety, old press box shakes from the students down below.

But as I step into Bryant-Denny Stadium for the first time for Alabama vs. Georgia on Sept. 28, I can assure you, most definitely, it will feel different. And Lewis’ stance on bravery and courage will play on a loop inside my head at that game and the games to come.

It’s a new adventure, a new journey that I invite you all to join me on. We’ll definitely have some fun, and probably some barbecue, along the way.

Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at cgay@gannett.com or follow him @_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter. 

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Meet Colin Gay, the Tuscaloosa News' new Alabama football beat reporter