Jordan Godfree-Imagn Images
By Chris Marler
Living up to expectations at Alabama isn’t the easiest–or most realistic–thing to do. Some Alabama fans might not know how to spell “entitled,” but that’s never stopped them from embodying it their entire lives.
There are positive narratives and accomplishments that happened in year one. During Greg Sankey’s introduction of DeBoer he stated his nine wins being the most of any first year coach in nearly 90 years. But it’s not the nine wins people remember, it’s the four losses.
More importantly, it’s who those four losses came against. Sure, you can dismiss losses to Vanderbilt and Oklahoma as mere flukes that were way more embarrassing than they were concerning. Losing to Tennessee stings, but remember, they were a playoff team. And bowl games? Who really cares.
One of the most perplexing parts of last season for Alabama was that each loss came almost immediately after a massive win. The Vanderbilt game is an easy example. Alabama had beaten No. 1 UGA a week before in one of the best games of the year. They even got out to a 30-7 lead at the half against Kirby Smart and his defense. That was an incredible surprise and a high for Alabama fans. Then, it was followed by a shocking low in losing to Vanderbilt for the first time in 40 years.
That wasn’t a fluke. That’s Kalen Deboer’s entire resumé.
For instance, his 15-3 record against Top 25 teams is the best of any coach in the country. He’s even 6-0 against Steve Sarkisian, Dan Lanning, and Kirby Smart. Then, there are the losses. He only has 13 losses as a head coach at the FBS level. In those 13 losses:
- Ten of the losses came against unranked teams.
- Ten came when his team was favored.
- Five of those were as a double-digit favorite.
When he took the stage Wednesday at SEC Media Days, he was asked about his wins over Top 25 teams, his double-digit losses to unranked opponents, and how he plans to bring more consistency in games they’re “supposed” to win.
His immediate response came off as an excuse, noting that “most of those losses came in year one” at each school. He’s not wrong, nine of the 13 losses came in year one across his time at Fresno State, Alabama, and Washington. But no matter the year, the wild swings from big wins to baffling losses shouldn’t happen that often, especially not from one week to the next.
That said, the rest of DeBoer’s answer left little reason to believe year two will mirror year one, making it clear that last season is exactly where he intends to leave it: in the past.
The culture shock of moving from Seattle to Tuscaloosa would be a major adjustment for anyone. Add to that the fact that DeBoer’s new job wasn’t just in the toughest conference in college football, but also came with the task of replacing, in the eyes of Alabama fans, the near-second coming of Jesus in Nick Saban.
DeBoer came into this job with a massive target on his back. And, the appetite and eagerness for his failure at Bama was fueled by a litany of things. He was an outsider replacing the greatest coach of all time and, perhaps his biggest offense, he took over the team everyone loves to hate and roots against every time they take the field.
I’m not sure DeBoer fully grasped everything that comes with this job when he first took it. That’s not to say he was in over his head, but it’s fair to say he spent much of last year trying to stay afloat. At times, he looked overwhelmed, not fully in control of the field, the team, or the program.
That look is gone, or at least replaced by one of confidence, experience, and a mid-July tan. He also brought up a number of things that people probably don’t realize or aren’t’ talking enough about in regards to the stability the program currently has versus a year ago.
Alabama didn’t lose a single player in the spring portal and only one coach departed from their staff. The lack of turnover speaks to the commitment of players and coaches. It also speaks to the fact that they’re buying into whatever DeBoer’s selling inside the four walls of the program facilities.
Now the question is: can they take the next step and beat Vanderbilt?
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