It is often said, only half jokingly, that there are only two sports in the South: football and spring football. Wiith few NFL teams or pro franchises in any sport, college football is king in the South and when things start to head South, this is what can happen to a school like Alabama.
About mid-way through the third quarter of Alabama’s second loss to a Tennessee team this year I texted an influential booster and Sky Box holder to inqure about how many Jack & Cokes he had drank to that point.
“I lost count,” was his reply.
Like my friend, Alabama football fans have gone from sitting on the edge of their seat to falling back in their recliner. In just three games, a No. 1 ranking and electrifying home win over Georgia has been replaced by the shocking realization that this team is not very good, is not well coached and likely won’t even make the forgiving 12-team playoff.
This is a look at what the level-headed people in Alabama are saying about the Crimson Tide, Kalen DeBoer and the coaching staff, and not the screaming rednecks on the Paul Finebaum Show and social media.
The aforementioned realization is part of it. High hopes are now lost hopes. Even before the South Carolina game, the influential people were pointing fingers at the assistant coaches, saying they were in over their heads. This deflected criticism of the head coach, tho many fans did not like seeing DeBoer smile and laugh walking off the field after barely escaping the Gamecocks, a game in which head-scratching plays and coaching mismanagement nearly resulted in a loss. Everyone knows Nick Saban isn’t the coach anymore but certain standards Saban set – and the respect he commanded from his players – is gone.
So far, those people – including students – are not ready to call for firing DeBoer and are not yet referring to this time as the DeBoer Error instead of the DeBoer Era. But the fact the “f” word (firing) is even being brought up halfway into his first year shows the deep concern for the hire. The consensus on that subject is this: “who you gonna get – we don’t want to be like Auburn!”
Still, paying $10 million a year to a coach who can’t beat Vanderbilt isn’t sitting very well in Tuscaloosa. The athletic department is asking more and more of its donors with “suggested donations” (in other words, demands) of tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars to keep their current status but the last thing a university wants is disgruntled alumni. And right now, I’m sensing a sense of complacency settling in about the football program.
Now, I will dive into exactly what is wrong with Alabama and what effects the NIL and the transfer portal is having on football programs across the country.
Alabama’s Problem: No Offensive Plan Or Identity
If there was one area not to be worried about when DeBoer was hired, or so every0ne was told by the college football “experts,” it was the offense. Quarterback Jalen Milroe would thrive under DeBoer’s system, the receivers would excel, the tight ends would be involved and the running backs would rule.
But since the first quarter and a half of the Georgia game, there has seemingly been no plan on offense. There is no consistent commitment to the running game, no designed runs for Milroe other than predictable end runs near the goal line and ill-timed quarterback draws, and a helter-skelter approach to the passing game. Where are the tight ends that were supposed to be such a big part of the offense? The diverse receiving corps? The coaches ignore Ryan Willliams one week and then act as if he’s the only receiver the next. Other than checkdowns, the running backs are not at all involved in the passing game.
What exactly is this offense’s identity? It has none. The defense? The offense was supposed to make up for these shortcomings until the secondary matured. Another issue is special teams; all one player had to do was not touch the ball on South Carolina’s onside kick because it did not go 10 yards. That was just one of the foolish special teams plays this season. Right now there’s no part of this team that is playing winning football.
The Demise Of Jalen Milroe
Milroe, once considered the Heisman Trophy front runner and a lock as a high first-round NFL draft pick, is now lost. Without an offensive plan, he looks bewildered. He’s rushing throws, which is why he’s so far off target to open receivers and why he’s bailing out of the pocket too early. He’s has regressed to the point he’s almost back to where he was before last year’s South Florida game. Some in Bama circles are wondering if he is injured.
Don’t blame Milroe, tho. If your boss assigns you a project and doesn’t give you any direction on how to execute it, then how are you supposed to do a good job on it?
How Did Things Fall So Fast For Alabama?
You can blame the players for not executing properly but executing what, exactly? Alabama’s problem is obvious: there is a serious lack of coaching and discipline.
A lot of this is on the assistants. They are simply not getting the job done, but the head coach is responsible for his assistants and needs to lead. In the Vanderbilt game, as the Commodores were confidently converting third down after third down and marching up and down the field, DeBoer had a deer-in-the-headlights look on his face It’s as if he couldn’t believe it either and had no idea what to do about it. There are seemingly no adjustments on defense with this team. Vandy – Vandy! – toyed with the Tide all day on that side of the ball. Saban, of course was king of the in-game and halftime adjustments.
And then there was Malachi Moore losing it at the end of the Vandy game and Kendrick Law getting a deserved personal foul penalty near the end of the Tennessee game. Both showed a complete lack of discipline on the team, as if the second quarter meltdown against South Carolina and 15 penalties against Tennessee wasn’t enough of an indication of that fact.
Now there’s some locker room bickering, apparently, with a freshman receiver (not Williams) questioning on social media Milroe’s decision to throw a fade route to Willliams instead of him in the Tennessee game. The underthrown pass was intercepted in the end zone. If the locker room is splitting up, well let’s just say that’s not a positive.
Overall it appears the players are running this team and not the coaches.
What I can’t figure out is how things went south so quickly. How could a staff that prepared so brilliantly for the start of the Georgia game suddenly be so clueless? Frankly, I have no idea, unless they are simply in over their heads and, as the ‘ol Southern expression goes, “even a blind squirrel can find a nut once in a while.”
Was Kalen DeBoer The Wrong Hire For Alabama?
Despite what all the rednecks yell on the Finebaum show, it’s too soon early tell. The cooler heads, which are the the vast majority of alumni, boosters and students, are still supporting him. After all, he does, as of this writing anyway, have the #1 recruiting class in the nation for next year.
Maybe there’s an adjustment period while DeBoer gets used to the program, the culture, the SEC and everything else it takes to be the head football coach at the University of Alabama. The fans certainly have had to adjust. And contrary to what some in the media say and write, true Alabama fans are not the most demanding, unrealistic fans in college football. Those statements are said and written by outsiders who don’t know the truth. Yes, expectations are high because of the standard set by previous coaches, but not unrealistic. Win enough to be a consistent factor for the National Championship and a coach can have long career in Tuscaloosa.
The NIL & Transfer Portal
Certainly, the NIL and especially the transfer portal are having a huge effect on college football. It’s enabling Vanderbilt and Indiana – two programs that were once “automatic Ws” on the schedule– to suddenly become competitive.
Part of the problem for Alabama is that in this transfer portal era, it is imperative for the athletic director make a super-quick hire – too quick, perhaps – in order to keep half the team from leaving. Alabama’s Greg Byrne and hired DeBoer in the span of three days. And still, key players left, receiver Isaiah Bond even saying it was a “business decision” to head for Texas while driving off in a new Lamborghini.
So yes, both the transfer portal and the NIL are huge factors affecting nearly every program in America. Coaches have to be careful how they treat players and also play them immediately or boom – they are in the portal. This is what today’s coach faces and he knows it. He has to embrace it or be left in the dust.
Curt Cignetti is doing it at Indiana. Heck, maybe he’ll be at Alabama in three years. Keep in mind he was wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator for Saban from 2007-10.
You can find the original article here on PubClub.
Kevin Wilkerson has covered Alabama football and college football for daily newspapers and is an alumni of the University of Alabama. He publishes the lifestyle blog PubClub.com
