Former player Mike Johnson overview on Kalen DeBoer and Bama after two years
- Thread starter Bamabuzzard
- Start date
Just listened.
But what do these guys know?
It doesn’t matter if you’re competitive and tough because losing by 1 point is the same as 35. If your not First your Last. If you can’t win…quit.
Sheesh these guys are so negative and should just be patient.
Sounds about right. The MO of the stafff and running the ball needs to take a turn.
Talked about the rotation DeBoer employed on the OL this season:
- When everyone is healthy and you're still rotating, Johnson doesn't know why that's done. No continuity or chemistry when you do it the way we did it.
Struggles in run game:
- Timing was terrible. Pulling OL were never in sync with RBs.
- Less talent in the RB room.
- Grubb no running game in Seattle.....now they have a running game.
How confident is Johnson on the new OL coming in fixing the problem:
- Washington National Title game team had the Joe Moore Award winning OL.
- That team didn't have a great running game, its just a philosophy of the staff.
- No change in the struggles unless a staff change is made.
- We will still be pass heavy, not much hope that we see better rushing in 2026.
When you look at this team right now heading into 2026:
- Miller expects about 9-3
- Johnson says its hard to evaluate now because of all the changes year to year.
- Says a 9-3 season would be good with all that's going on.
- We'll be turning the page if we continue to get the doors blown off.
- When everyone is healthy and you're still rotating, Johnson doesn't know why that's done. No continuity or chemistry when you do it the way we did it.
Struggles in run game:
- Timing was terrible. Pulling OL were never in sync with RBs.
- Less talent in the RB room.
- Grubb no running game in Seattle.....now they have a running game.
How confident is Johnson on the new OL coming in fixing the problem:
- Washington National Title game team had the Joe Moore Award winning OL.
- That team didn't have a great running game, its just a philosophy of the staff.
- No change in the struggles unless a staff change is made.
- We will still be pass heavy, not much hope that we see better rushing in 2026.
When you look at this team right now heading into 2026:
- Miller expects about 9-3
- Johnson says its hard to evaluate now because of all the changes year to year.
- Says a 9-3 season would be good with all that's going on.
- We'll be turning the page if we continue to get the doors blown off.
Yep, DeBoer is going to have to evolve. We are seeing things shifting back to physical pro style football.
This finesse stuff and relying totally on the QB will not get you to the top. It'll win games but it will not win championships.
If DeBoer is serious.......he's going to have to get his teams more physical and less finesse.
Yup..Losing isn't the problem, as long as your coaching & play on the football field is up to the Bama Standard..
I'm sorry getting manhandled at the LOS, with - numbers running the ball, then getting out coached in every phase of the game..
Isn't living up to the standards in those losses..We got beat as thoroughly as we did in the Shula Era..
I'm sorry getting manhandled at the LOS, with - numbers running the ball, then getting out coached in every phase of the game..
Isn't living up to the standards in those losses..We got beat as thoroughly as we did in the Shula Era..
MJ and CM really hit the nail on the head as far as I can tell. Lots of work to be done on the OL.
If Deboer is willing to hitch his wagon to Grubb no matter what, he might best be prepared to see it over the cliff. The success and continuation of his Alabama tenure seems to hinge on Grubb’s effectiveness. Hope they get it figured out.
The main issue I have now is we're stuck in this two differing realities and I'm not sure I can recall a point where Alabama football existed in such a state. May be it's social media, I don't know, but I can't recall a point where you could get things like two sets of reporters or insiders or what have you repeatedly claiming two completely contradictory things. It's weird and it leads to a rather unsettling position of how exactly did we get here?
For instance starting with the head coach search I've seen these two things put out there.
A: Alabama offered Dan Lanning, he said no. They then moved on to DeBoer due to some obvious concerns with Kiffin. That I can follow, if that's how it went down I can at least say hey look they saw a high IQ coach and someone that's had some degree of success and as a plan B it wasn't a bad move (the contract was bad, but what ever...). May be I'd have liked a bit more of a deep dive with candidates, this and that, but if that's the process I can follow it and I can get behind it.
B: I've seen a national reporter claim that DeBoer and Norvell were always #1 and #2 on the list. If that's the case the entire search was a train-wreck! You can't just look at who had the best past season and hire those guys! That's horrible, you need to really dig into these guy's resumes and look deep and if you did that Norvell would have always been near the bottom of the list. That's recency bias at it's worst. If I believe that report though, there are people who will call me out because their version differs, even though it's not even been reported as such on the national level. So which is it? I have no idea.
The Smothers thing, I've seen multiple versions of how that went down. All I know for sure if they announced his addition before he was signed.
I've heard multiple version of whether or not there will be coaching changes, etc... You might get called out there as well if you address valid concerns.
This uncertainty is kind of reflected in how this team performs in truth. You never know what you're going to get! They're inconsistent, it's one thing if they were consistently bad, or consistently good, but they're just not consistent!
There are basically two possibilities here though.
A: DeBoer is trying to recreate the Washington team.
This always terrified me. This is why I was hesitant. That was a fatally flawed Washington team. They managed to win 10 games in a row by 10 or less, that's a heck of a run, then they got dismantled by Michigan. Their second leading rusher was a receiver, their third leader in rushing attempts was the QB with 35. This team had a lot of the same flaws, it was just dressed up better. If Alabama hired him to try to do that here, they screwed up. No way around that because I don't see how you win at the consistent level it takes to succeed in the conference and in the playoffs with that kind of football.
B: They do see the problems and they are trying to fix them.
RB room didn't change much, OL did. I guess we'll see if they change coaches and what not. I'm worried though because if they don't make real changes, the indication is they're basically looking at it like they're almost there. A few more tweaks and they can achieve west coast football! That ain't gonna work...
For instance starting with the head coach search I've seen these two things put out there.
A: Alabama offered Dan Lanning, he said no. They then moved on to DeBoer due to some obvious concerns with Kiffin. That I can follow, if that's how it went down I can at least say hey look they saw a high IQ coach and someone that's had some degree of success and as a plan B it wasn't a bad move (the contract was bad, but what ever...). May be I'd have liked a bit more of a deep dive with candidates, this and that, but if that's the process I can follow it and I can get behind it.
B: I've seen a national reporter claim that DeBoer and Norvell were always #1 and #2 on the list. If that's the case the entire search was a train-wreck! You can't just look at who had the best past season and hire those guys! That's horrible, you need to really dig into these guy's resumes and look deep and if you did that Norvell would have always been near the bottom of the list. That's recency bias at it's worst. If I believe that report though, there are people who will call me out because their version differs, even though it's not even been reported as such on the national level. So which is it? I have no idea.
The Smothers thing, I've seen multiple versions of how that went down. All I know for sure if they announced his addition before he was signed.
I've heard multiple version of whether or not there will be coaching changes, etc... You might get called out there as well if you address valid concerns.
This uncertainty is kind of reflected in how this team performs in truth. You never know what you're going to get! They're inconsistent, it's one thing if they were consistently bad, or consistently good, but they're just not consistent!
There are basically two possibilities here though.
A: DeBoer is trying to recreate the Washington team.
This always terrified me. This is why I was hesitant. That was a fatally flawed Washington team. They managed to win 10 games in a row by 10 or less, that's a heck of a run, then they got dismantled by Michigan. Their second leading rusher was a receiver, their third leader in rushing attempts was the QB with 35. This team had a lot of the same flaws, it was just dressed up better. If Alabama hired him to try to do that here, they screwed up. No way around that because I don't see how you win at the consistent level it takes to succeed in the conference and in the playoffs with that kind of football.
B: They do see the problems and they are trying to fix them.
RB room didn't change much, OL did. I guess we'll see if they change coaches and what not. I'm worried though because if they don't make real changes, the indication is they're basically looking at it like they're almost there. A few more tweaks and they can achieve west coast football! That ain't gonna work...
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I'm seeing a shift back to power football in the teams that have been successful the last five years. What do UGA (21/22), Michigan '23, Ohio St '24 and Indiana '25 have in common? All four ran their offense out of a power football base, supplemented with very good, physical defenses. If we're not moving closer toward that model, we're not winning a NC anytime soon. The style offense we currently run is too easy to stifle for physical style defenses. They push our OL around, smother our running game and don't give our QB hardly any time to throw the ball. Not a great recipe for championship football.
That's what happened to DeBoer's UW team in the national title game against Michigan. DeBoer's offense (offensive line) couldn't physically hold up against the physicality of the Michigan defense. We've seen the same signs here for two years.
I think your possibility A is the one we're getting. I don't see DeBoer tweaking or evolving his system or philosophy. He's building this program to be a more talented version of that Washington team is what it looks like.
If that's the case, we'll win game, sure.....but then we'll lay multiple eggs each season vs more physical teams. Or basically any team that can get after the QB or confuse the QB.
As for your coaching search scenarios......I've seen both of those scenarios but always thought the more prominent idea or scenario was the DeBoer and Norvell were the choices from the get go. Which I never understood.
I was hoping after Saban retired that we would go after Lanning....why.....his philosophy is suited for the SEC and big boy football. His coaching attitude is that of making the other guy quit. He's young and learning, but his personality and philosophy fit.
I worry that we've hitched our horse to a very expensive wagon that is going to give us the same seasons.....good wins, a great win here and there....and then absolute disasters.
As you said....news leaking out is inconsistent.....play and coaching is inconsistent. The entirety of the program is just that.....inconsistency.
But what do I know.....we're supposed to have hope in the current regime to get their guys in and do it their way and we'll be ok......right? I will never subscribe to that idea. I don't think his system or philosophy works here.
There's nothing new coming out of that interview. He's just repeating same thing we all have heard from different people in the last few months:
Former players. It's been nothing but former players.
No body is saying anything new. I thought we were turning page on this and get ready for spring practice and see what changes they made?
Former players. It's been nothing but former players.
No body is saying anything new. I thought we were turning page on this and get ready for spring practice and see what changes they made?
If DeBoer isn't hiring coaches to fit a change in philosophy......there isn't a change in philosophy.
The writing is on the wall though....if he doesn't evolve he won't be at Bama long.
There are new things, just not good ones.
Insider claiming no OL coaching changes.
Claims that one of the OL guys they landed is not actually landed.
Stuff like that is unsettling for obvious reasons.
I'm still just worried about the running back room. They lost 3 guys, they added one. The room did not perform well. Either it was coaching or it was personnel (perhaps both?). Thus far they've changed neither.
I do want to believe though! But this time last year I was basically raising the same concerns, concerns the staff should have had. May be they don't though? May be it's just not as big a concern to them, that's what it's starting to feel like. This doesn't look like the kind of drastic measures that need to be taken.
I'll be glad though if the changes are made, but that window for that is certainly narrowing.
That's one thing that I've consistently heard whether it be from former players, podcast hosts or media people. Year three (and possibly four) is a big deal for DeBoer because if things don't significantly improve in some areas, "the page is being turned".
The moment DeBoer got hired one of the first questions was whether a West Coast offense could work in the SEC. We'll be going into season 3 without an answer which is a bit troubling because if a philosophy is going to be successful it usually doesn't take long to know. It took Saban, Smart, and Cignetti just one season.
I'm sure it would work if you had the exact perfect fit in every position and they were all very experienced players.
How likely is something like that to happen? I'd say you're more likely to have success doing what's successful instead of trying to force something to be successful that needs to be perfect to actually be successful.
We looked a lot like playground football at times this season, where nobody runs the ball and everybody goes out for a pass, except in a playground game the quarterback has more time to throw than our QB did, and I agree this staff needs to change course or they will be running off a cliff.
I'm just ready for it to be over with so the program can move on.
I'm sure Kalen DeBoer is a decent human being, but as a coach, I absolutely detest everything about him.
I'm sick of the soft style of play. You can call it "finesse" if it makes you feel better, but the truth is we're just soft. I'm sick of the ridiculous trick plays. I'm sick of the stupid look on his face during games. I'm sick of the "we're so close" interview answers.
So bring on another 9-win season, let's thank him for his service, and try not to stink it up with the next hire.
so basically the more things change, the more they stay the same. who would have thought??
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