Nick Saban left massive shoes to fill at Alabama. We always knew that was going to be the case, but perhaps nobody knows that more than new Crimson Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer.
The only thing that matters at Alabama is winning and the expectation in Tuscaloosa is to be perfect. DeBoer has been good, but he has not been perfect. Coming off a disappointing 24-17 loss to No. 11 Tennessee, that lack of perfection has led to quite a bit of grumbling from the Alabama fan base.
It also led ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith to go on one of his patented “First Take” rants.
“I’m sort of disgusted from what I’ve seen from Alabama. I mean the hell with Roll Tide. We can’t say ‘Roll Tide,’” Smith said (h/t On3). “Listen, Kalen DeBoer doesn’t seem like the right man for the job. This is a man that’s won at every level. … But this dude is no Nick Saban. Boy do we miss Nick Saban. If I was Alabama, I’d beg Nick Saban to leave College Football GameDay and come back in the middle of the damn season.”
The Crimson Tide are 5-2 and boast a win over No. 2 Georgia and are ranked No. 15 in the nation. At any other university, they’d be in the middle of a pretty good season.
To put this in perspective, Alabama lost four games total from 2015-18. With two losses already this season and games against No. 21 Missouri, No. 8 LSU, Oklahoma and Auburn still remaining, there’s a very real chance DeBoer’s team loses five or six games in 2024, which would be an absolute disaster scenario in Tuscaloosa,
Smith already thinks the Crimson Tide went after the wrong head coach, clearly preferring Oregon’s Dan Lanning over DeBoer at this stage. Imagine what he’ll say if the above scenario plays out.
“It looks like they hired the wrong guy. They should’ve went and got Dan Lanning from Oregon,” Smith said. “The personality, to go from Nick Saban to DeBoer, it just seems like night and day. The level of accountability, the defense, the fluidity. I mean the roughriders, you don’t seem to be there. Listen, it’s bad. Because not only do they have two losses in the last three weeks, they should’ve lost to South Carolina. They should’ve lost three straight. I’m very, very disgusted. … It almost seems like the AD said, ‘You know what, I’ve been so exhausted dealing with Saban over the years, I need somebody that’s a bit more pleasant and ain’t going to hold me too accountable’ or something. I just don’t like what I’m seeing at Alabama right now. I’m very disgusted.”
