Bama Game Thread: Official PostGame Thread - Bama vs. IU...

[Power Eye]

I’m tired of hearing “wait until he gets his players” from DeBoer apologists. We just got beat by a guy who turned IU around in months, not years. He didn’t need time to get his players, they went out and got them quickly. What’s DeBoer waiting for?

Many on TF seem convinced that we have a great coach who just needs time. I’m not convinced.

DeBoer has now lost 3 games by 21+ points in his first 2 years. Saban had 1 in 17 years. This is unacceptable, this is not Alabama football and this is not the right coach for the job.

Lose a game, fine, but compete. 3 times now DeBoer’s teams have not competed at all. Pathetic.

Tell me, after 17 years of Saban, why did we not try to hire from his coaching tree? It has worked for a number of teams, we didn’t think it could work at Bama?


IMO, he gets 1 more year. Start tomorrow, go buy the guys you need to win. Otherwise he can start packing his bags next December.

I don’t know that DeBoer will win us a national title. For one, I’m not sure he’ll be given the time, and I’m not certain he’s capable.. However, the comparisons to Saban and what he accomplished are foolish imo. There is no more Saban, and there isn’t one to be found. He was a unicorn. To say that Saban is the standard for Alabama is not realistic.

I was too young to know what the first few years were like post Bryant, but I imagine they were like this until Stallings came around, who by the way, lost his first three games and had a 27 point loss to Louisville and a 35 point shutout to Florida in his first two years. Year 3 was a decent turnaround though.

I worry that we will drift down a bad path if we discard quality coaches after three years because they aren’t Saban.

 

[RdunawayTX]

People just do not understand that you cannot bring a coach that has never coached in the SEC before thinking they are going to do good it will not happen that whole coaching staff never been in the SEC before they need to fire deboer and the staff with him and make some phone calls to get lane kiffin

Please don't start this crap again.

 

[RdunawayTX]

I was too young to know what the first few years were like post Bryant, but I imagine they were like this until Stallings came around, who by the way, lost his first three games and had a 27 point loss to Louisville and a 35 point shutout to Florida in his first two years. Year 3 was a decent turnaround though.

I remember all too well. We wandered in the wasteland after Bryant until Stallings and then until Saban.

The folks who only know Saban don't really know what it was like. And if they start pulling an Auburn coach cycling, they're going to find out.

 

[JDCrimson]

That

I don’t know that DeBoer will win us a national title. For one, I’m not sure he’ll be given the time, and I’m not certain he’s capable.. However, the comparisons to Saban and what he accomplished are foolish imo. There is no more Saban, and there isn’t one to be found. He was a unicorn. To say that Saban is the standard for Alabama is not realistic.

I was too young to know what the first few years were like post Bryant, but I imagine they were like this until Stallings came around, who by the way, lost his first three games and had a 27 point loss to Louisville and a 35 point shutout to Florida in his first two years. Year 3 was a decent turnaround though.

I worry that we will drift down a bad path if we discard quality coaches after three years because they aren’t Saban.

That's why we need to stay the course with CKD. Otherwise we can drift for the next decade or longer.

 

[81usaf92]

I’m tired of hearing “wait until he gets his players” from DeBoer apologists. We just got beat by a guy who turned IU around in months, not years. He didn’t need time to get his players, they went out and got them quickly. What’s DeBoer waiting for?

Many on TF seem convinced that we have a great coach who just needs time. I’m not convinced.

DeBoer has now lost 3 games by 21+ points in his first 2 years. Saban had 1 in 17 years. This is unacceptable, this is not Alabama football and this is not the right coach for the job.

Lose a game, fine, but compete. 3 times now DeBoer’s teams have not competed at all. Pathetic.

Tell me, after 17 years of Saban, why did we not try to hire from his coaching tree? It has worked for a number of teams, we didn’t think it could work at Bama?


IMO, he gets 1 more year. Start tomorrow, go buy the guys you need to win. Otherwise he can start packing his bags next December.

First and foremost… Saban vs anyone not named Bear Bryant or Bud Wilkinson is a comparison that isn’t even worth having. Saban is an anomaly. Kirby has taken plenty of blowouts compared to Saban… are we holding him to that same lofty standard or does the national championship rings make us suddenly forget those stats too? And no let’s not get it twisted… I’m not comparing CKD to Kirby. I’m just showing how any metric you use saban as the base then you aren’t going to find someone that comes close to seem even half way decent.

As far as the Saban tree right now…We have a guy that 90% of the fanbase thought was the worst hire ever (Golding), a guy that everyone forgot coached at Bama and his players are all over twitter right now calling his tough guy attitude as fake (Cignetti), a guy that was a GA for one year and was far more of a Kirby boy than a Saban boy (Lanning), and a guy that left Oregon to coach at his alma mater (Cristobal). Aside from Lanning none of those were either realistic or guys the fanbase would be over the moon about when hiring them. Also be wary of falling in the Saban tree thing. I remember for years everyone in the NFL was hiring from the Belichick tree and constantly firing them. But that also brings up 2 hard truths too… Ray Perkins was a Bryant guy. Granted Stallings was too, but you see the point. Also there is a widely repeated report that Saban himself thought Tommy Rees would be the next great HC in his tree. Would you really consider a 1 year Saban coach with no HC experience a suitable successor if Saban recommended it?

Coaching hires almost never end in who you want they usually end on who you can get at the time. From all reports GB targeted 3 guys and got who he believed was his best guy. Whether it works out is up in the air, but he must make hard choices in the coming months because it’s obvious there are issues that have to be fixed ASAP.

 

[CrimsonNagus]

Whatever. I just don’t understand what CKD has shown some of you that makes you want to stay the course. I’ve seen a lot that makes me scratch my head and very little that makes me think we have the right coach.

 

[SkullDuckery]

He wants faster, more agile players.

How big is Indiana’s oline and dline? They manhandled our big guys.

 

[M Squires]

So lay some knowledge on us:
Who are you going to hire? I mean head coach/assistants, etc?
Who?
That would come here..................
Who is available that will do better?
If you have no solutions quit complaining

Bryant Haines.

Message boards would blow up, but he’s every bit as special as Cignetti.

 

[SkullDuckery]

That

That's why we need to stay the course with CKD. Otherwise we can drift for the next decade or longer.

Florida is a great modern day example

 

[OconeeTide]

Pete Golding has more wins then CKD in the playoffs.





Aint gonna lie thats kinda funny. I used to HATE his defense here.

 

[Power Eye]

Pete Golding has more wins then CKD in the playoffs.





Aint gonna lie thats kinda funny. I used to HATE his defense here.

No, they both have two wins in the playoffs.

 

[SMOKIESBAMAFAN]

He wouldn’t, but he’s also not our coach anymore and never will again. There isn’t another Saban in college football, and probably won’t be for a long time.

Kirby did the same thing and it lost him the game. Coaches getting paid millions and don’t know that you don’t go for it on your own side of the field.

 

[bamacpa]

Whatever. I just don’t understand what CKD has shown some of you that makes you want to stay the course. I’ve seen a lot that makes me scratch my head and very little that makes me think we have the right coach.

There has been some bad football played under KD, no question. But we can't start over just two years later, it would destroy the program. There are no sure fire fixes out there anyway that we have a realistic shot at hiring if we fired him today.

 

[graydogg85]

There are some reactionary takes on here, but it’s also true that this team has some issues that need to be corrected.

IMO, our offensive line play made this game and the SECCG non-competitive. The inability to sustain drives eventually caused a very good defense to just wear out. For those of you that haven’t read Jess’s recap, I’d suggest you do so. Indiana’s style of OL is much closer to what our scheme needs. They aren’t massive but they are extremely athletic.

Getting blown out twice in the last month isn’t a great look, but the combined record of the teams we lost to is 26-2, and we had a regular season road win against one of them.

The blowout losses aren’t great, but CKD is now 5-1 against Auburn, LSU and Tennessee, and 2-1 against Georgia. IMO, that is indicative of a coach that knows what he’s doing - lord knows those records could be far worse (and most assuredly would be under guys like Shula and Dubose - some of y’all really don’t remember what that was like).

An 11-win season with an SECCG appearance, a playoff appearance, a playoff win, and a perfect record against our major rivals is an excellent season overall and one that 95% of CFB is envious of.

Lastly, just for some levity, let’s not forget that Saban’s second team got clocked in the Sugar Bowl by Utah. His 12th team lost by 28 in the national title game. Gene Stallings had a team lose to Tennessee by 27. Bryant lost the ‘72 Orange Bowl by 32 points. There’s been plenty of elite coaches that have experienced blowout losses on big stages, and it doesn’t necessarily doom them to failure.

Let’s see what staff changes are forthcoming, because I’m nearly certain there will be some. I still think CKD is the right guy, and from what I hear, he hates losing enough that I trust some changes will be made.

 

[KrAzY3]

There has been some bad football played under KD, no question. But we can't start over just two years later, it would destroy the program. There are no sure fire fixes out there anyway that we have a realistic shot at hiring if we fired him today.

First, I generally agree with you.

But! I hated the DeBoer hire for one reason and one reason specifically. I know he was a west coast finesse guy and that made him a "fit" issue.

Even now, we have people saying he doesn't have his guys, the offensive line is still too big, they have the wrong style running backs (don't want power backs), etc...

That frankly terrifies me and is why I desperately wanted someone with a more similar approach how Alabama previously played football. This team was absolutely stacked! Loaded with talent, they were in truth closer to a championship than DeBoer's Washington team (who got dominated by a Michigan team that barely beat Alabama).

Here's the nightmare scenario to me, DeBoer manages to rid himself of all those pesky big strong guys and finishes making this a finesse team. This finesse team then can't run the ball (because no DeBoer team is good at that anyway) and can't punch other teams in the mouth. This doesn't succeed consistently because finesse teams are more fragile, and then you end up with a roster that's small and weak and so far removed from championship caliber that it is also ruined for years.

So there's no question in my mind that the first part of what I was worried did happen. He inherited a championship caliber roster and it didn't suit him so we get what we're seeing now. But, he's the one that has to change! More so than the roster, and if he doesn't adapt, and build a stronger, more balanced team, it won't matter if he gets fired sooner or later, the program ends up in a hole no matter what.

 

[Slowpoke Catracho]

There are too many Nick Saban fans. If you like Nick Saban, Saban is gone and will not return. Long live the King! If you like Alabama, Alabama lives on! Roll Tide! We'll see what next year brings.

Remember, when Saban abandoned us (He did!), he picked Kalen DeBoer. Saban could have said, "Next year will be my last year!" and stayed on for another year where there could have been a more thorough coaching search.

 

[gtgilbert]

How big is Indiana’s oline and dline? They manhandled our big guys.

smallest OL is 309. Rest are all in the 315 range. All bigger than Brailsford by a decent margin, but none anywhere near the size of our LT.

 

[tusks_n_raider]

I'm not on the fire DeBoer bandwagon, but if anyone thinks Saban loses 4 games this season and gets humiliated like that against Indiana then I'd like some of what you're having.

This isn't a Saban issue. Cignetti demonstrated how use of the portal (and people have harped on how many Alabama lost, well guess what? You can get 'em from the portal too) can build a great team. If these guys struggled doing that, it's just their own shortcoming.

Edit: This is made worse by the way, by the fact that Alabama's staff makes a bit over 9 million and Indiana's makes a bit over 5. So the budget staff did all of this.

Yeah I’m tired of seeing the ‘Even CNS couldn’t do this’ excuse.

He’s 74 now and retired at 72.

He didn’t want to or knew he couldn’t put in the same energy as his younger self to do what needed to be done to build tough teams through the portal and navigate all the NIL stuff.

Fair play. He earned the right to ride off into the sunset.

He finished 12-2 with an SEC Championship and went to OT in the Semi’s with the eventual NC.

He by god didn’t get embarrassed repeatedly by other teams.

He didn’t even come close to losing 8 freaking games in 2 seasons at the end.

Cignetti is 10 years younger and has the fire and hunger to navigate this current landscape and he’s not the only one.

Other teams are showing that quick improvements can be made and that you can find talent that fits your system and put together a tough team that can be coached hard and play consistent competitive football.

Cignetti specifically cleaned house at IU in year 1 and took them from a bottom feeder to 11-2

He brought in 30 new players in 2024 specifically from the portal to make that improvement.

How is that much different from “oh boo boo poor little CKD had a mass exodus it’s not his fault”?

No it is his fault if according to Morgan we “struck out” in the portal.

It’s by god his job not to strike out.

If he can’t identify needs or coach up who he has then it’s a major problem.

What is he good at other than making excuses?

There’s way too much excuse making right now from the Staff and the Fans.

 

[teamplayer]

Whatever. I just don’t understand what CKD has shown some of you that makes you want to stay the course. I’ve seen a lot that makes me scratch my head and very little that makes me think we have the right coach.

I believe that you have to give a guy at least three years to demonstrate what he can do. I don't have very much confidence that next year will show great improvement, though. DeBoer seems like a good guy who runs a clean program. I like those characteristics about him; however, I do not like seeing the Tide get manhandled while looking incompetent. I now wonder if he knows what needs to be done and if he will make the tough calls needed to get it done. We shall see, but so far I'm reminded of Coach Sheila. I hope I'm wrong. Roll Tide!

 

[CrimSonami]

There are some reactionary takes on here, but it’s also true that this team has some issues that need to be corrected.

Getting blown out twice in the last month isn’t a great look, but the combined record of the teams we lost to is 26-2, and we had a regular season road win against one of them.

The blowout losses aren’t great, but CKD is now 5-1 against Auburn, LSU and Tennessee, and 2-1 against Georgia. IMO, that is indicative of a coach that knows what he’s doing - lord knows those records could be far worse (and most assuredly would be under guys like Shula and Dubose - some of y’all really don’t remember what that was like).

Let’s see what staff changes are forthcoming, because I’m nearly certain there will be some. I still think CKD is the right guy, and from what I hear, he hates losing enough that I trust some changes will be made.

A: The reaction, at least in my case, isn't that we lost but HOW we lost.

B: Key words here are BLOWN OUT. Yeah, not a GOOD LOOK and it's a glaring motivational issue.

C: It's easy to say FIRE CKD and I'm not one of those but his demeanor has never given me a warm-n-fuzzy. I'm hoping some of you are correct in staff adjustments and getting HIS players on board but for and offensive genius to score THREE POINTS with 2 weeks to prepare, regardless the competition level, is completely unacceptable.

I stated earlier that I don't know what to make of this program anymore. I don't want to get "Lost in the Wilderness" so to speak but as of right now it sure FEELS to me like we're about wander out into a dust storm and lose our bearings.

ROLL TIDE