Coaching fit.

[bamajas]

If you think about it, would an Alabama type program hire a coach from James Madison University?
Does the experience at JMU really prepare you for handling the bright lights of the upper echelons of college football? Well, in Coach Cignetti's case, yes (although an argument could be made that Indiana when he was hired was "upper echelon-adjacent" or "in the general neighborhood of great programs."
A lot of SEC schools have tried to hire a diamond in the rough, an untried (at this level) coach who seems to have his head on straight, seems to have overachieved with less resources. Tennessee and Florida come readily to mind. (No offense Bazza).
I'm not sure Alabama would be willing to try a JMU-type coach, so Alabama missed out on hiring the one guy who might have come right in and come closest to maintaining the Bama standard.
Instead, Alabama engaged in satisficing, the least bad option.
I'm not saying Coach DeBoer is a failure or will fail, just that the softness of the team is a reflection of the head coach. Coach DeBoer seems like a nice guy. Friendly with everyone. I cannot imagine him looking like this after a delay of game penalty:
View attachment 55070
More often we get this "I'm confused" look
View attachment 55071
Coach DeBoer might yet do well. I think to do well at Alabama, he's going to need to get a whole lot angrier and instill that anger in his players.

He was hired at IU on 11/30/2023, so 6-ish weeks prior to Saban retiring, so that's a complication

But to your point, I don't recall him being mentioned for many FBS jobs until he landed at IU

 

[graydogg85]

Here’s the thing: we hired the best available coach at the time Saban retired, based on resume.

No one in their right mind would have been excited had we passed up a guy like CKD for Cignetti in January 2024. True, he coached at UA previously but not even as a coordinator. He’d been a position coach 13 years previously, which is practically a lifetime given how the game evolved during that time.

Directly comparing their resumes as of January 2024, the only real advantage you’d give Cignetti was that he’d been a head coach for 13 years as opposed to 9 for CKD. Even so, CKD’s win percentage was higher and he had more hardware. Anyone who says we should’ve hired Cignetti in January 2024 is engaging in revisionist history based heavily in recency bias.

What Cignetti has done at Indiana is impressive for sure - but even that needs to be examined beyond the 2025 Rose Bowl. He faced the 60th toughest schedule nationally at the end of the 2025 regular season per Sagarin, and the 103rd toughest schedule in 2024.

IMO, football games are played in more of a vacuum these days than they used to be. I think the Rose Bowl was a really bad day for our team that made us look far worse than we actually were, and made Indiana look far better than they actually are. The narrative that “we were whipped physically” and that “Bama is soft” is easy to derive from the outcome of that game but IMO isn’t completely indicative of the team’s performance this season.

Earlier in the season we held the nation’s #2 running back to 52 yards against Mizzou (Ahmad Hardy ran for 1,649 yards this season and averaged 127 yards per game). Mizzou as a team averaged 228 ypg rushing (8th nationally and 1st in the SEC) and we held them to 160 yards. Oklahoma ran for 129 yards combined in their two games against us, good for 65 yards per game. Soft teams don’t post those kinds of stat lines against quality SEC opponents. Indiana ran for 215 yards on us, but around 70 of that came in the 4th quarter when the defense was completely gassed because the offense couldn’t stay on the field.

There are some things that need to be cleaned up, offensive line chief of those things. We aren’t ever going to look like the 2011 Alabama offense under CKD because that’s not who he is philosophically, but with better line play we will have a respectable running game and a dynamic passing game. Staying on the field won’t be an issue for the offense if we can fix that. We’ve had two consecutive seasons in the top 20 nationally in scoring defense, holding opponents under 20 ppg average for both seasons. Fix the line play on offense and I think we will be a championship caliber team. Honestly, to get 11 wins, a CFP appearance, a CFP win, a trip to Atlanta, and wins over all major rivals (plus a regular season win at UGA) is one heck of a coaching job considering how atrocious the line play was at times this season.

Some of y’all are being way too reactionary based on one (possibly two) games. Gene Stallings got absolutely smashed by the likes of Louisville and Florida his first two seasons and won a national title in his third season. As for temperament, I saw CKD get pretty dang fiery at times this season but I also think that’s an overrated coaching attribute. The fieriest, most intense coach I’ve ever seen is Will Muschamp and we know how that turned out.

I don’t know if CKD works out long-term but he’s literally off to as good of an overall start in his first two seasons as any Bama coach in the modern era (20 wins - one game better than Saban, two games better than Stallings, three games better than Fran, four games better than Curry and miles ahead of the Mikes and Perkins).

If he regresses in year three then I think there’s a legitimate discussion about his fitness for the job. I also think Cignetti has had a bit of a lightning in a bottle situation at Indiana and I’ll personally be surprised if he sustains it, especially considering his age. Larry Coker, Gene Chizik and Gus Malzahn looked like world beaters early in their tenures at Miami and AU. Malzahn in particular got to the national title game after a 3-9 season the prior year with a cast of transfers and “lesser” players, and we know how that turned out.

Let’s hold off calling CKD a bust and crowning Cignetti the next Saban just yet. See what happens next season.

 

[CajunCrimson]

Before 2020 it would take a coach 3 years minimum to get his own recruits, implement a system etc.

Now, you can flip an entire roster in 1-2 years. Some will do better than others.

After last year we kept the RB room and OL intact. And look at what we got? This year we are losing 85% of our OL and just grabbed an RB1 from the portal.

So he either learned OR is just reacting to pressure. I’m guessing it’s the latter. Which doesn’t give me confidence.

 

[CajunCrimson]

And before I get push back please know, I don’t care about the record or where we ended up. I do care that more than half of our games we really looked uninspired. That I care about.

I don’t find myself looking forward to next season. Other than to get this bad taste out of my mouth. And that’s not a good reason.

 

[AlexanderFan]

Those are good points. I know and unfortunately we have to give DeBoer at least on more years. CG has built it in two years. Hard to believe we were beat by them but we for beat badly by Kirby then Indiana. People can say we had a few starters out but Coach Saban always had really good depth. BAMA doesn't have the deep pockets like other schools so ita imperative we get a really good coach who has boundaries and an attitude to mold his players into disciplined hard working players. I realize the portal had changed things but a good coach will know how to navigate it. But you had some really good points

Maybe if you guys would fund DeBoer’s every want like Cuban is doing for Cignetti, then DeBoer would be doing better.

3/4 teams left have serious NIL backing and you guys dismiss that like it’s nothing. They want the guy , they get the guy.

Morgan is literally cutting salaries from guys who underperformed this year and last year. The process is going to take longer with limited resources.

 

[Tidewater]

He was hired at IU on 11/30/2023, so 6-ish weeks prior to Saban retiring, so that's a complication

But to your point, I don't recall him being mentioned for many FBS jobs until he landed at IU

You are correct, sir. I do not recall Coach Cig being mentioned in the Coach Saban replacement conversation. I mean, it is quite a jump from James Madison Univ. to the University of Alabama so nobody in Tuscaloosa wanted to pursue Cig. Like I said, Florida and Tennessee (post-Fulmer) went through a number of coaches from mid-majors only to discover they were not ready to be an SEC head coach.
The thing that made this acceptable for Indiana was that the Hoosiers were very rarely any good at football, but, if the program were to turn around, they would have a chance to show that against the likes of Michigan, tOSU, Penn State (and now Oregon, USCw, etc.). Hiring Cig was high up-side and low risk for Indiana. The same thing would have applied in Tuscaloosa.
That's too, bad, because, in hindsight, I think Cig would have been a great hire and might have negotiated the transition from mid-major (JMU) to big time (UA) well. Most do not.
If Alabama were to fire Coach Deboer at this point, all Alabama could do would be to go after a mid-major JMU kind of coach and hope we found he next SEC-ready head coach at a mid-major.

 

[mlh]

If we had hired a coach to replace CNS whose only HC experience was at IUP, Elon, and James Madison, people would've lost their minds. Even with CNS's endorsement, people would've freaked out.

At the time, CKD had a much better resume.

 

[Tidewater]

Let’s hold off calling CKD a bust and crowning Cignetti the next Saban just yet. See what happens next season.

I agree on both points. Given the choice, I would not terminate Coach DeBoer at this point. I think he is a good coach. I will be curious to see how he does next year, the mental toughness and resilience of the team.
Also, I am not yet ready to anoint Coach Cignetti the next Saban. Let him will a few national championships first. In the meantime, I do like that attitude: "I win. Google me." Coach Cig seems to impose his attitude on his players. The results thus far speak for themselves.

 

[bamajas]

If we had hired a coach to replace CNS whose only HC experience was at IUP, Elon, and James Madison, people would've lost their minds. Even with CNS's endorsement, people would've freaked out.

At the time, CKD had a much better resume.

But now we're losing our minds for other reasons

 

[SeventhHeavenRanch7777@gm]

I do send money to BAMA and I have season tickets. Sorry when we look unprepared and not hustling thats a problem everyone has an opinion

 

[Tidewater]

I do send money to BAMA and I have season tickets. Sorry when we look unprepared and not hustling thats a problem everyone has an opinion

You're fine.
You're right, everyone has an opinion and yours is welcome.
Keep expressing it, but please do not let your writing cross over into ad hominem attacks of other posters (not saying you have thus far, just stay aware of it in the future.)

 

[Tidewater]

If we had hired a coach to replace CNS whose only HC experience was at IUP, Elon, and James Madison, people would've lost their minds. Even with CNS's endorsement, people would've freaked out.

At the time, CKD had a much better resume.

Absolutely right. At a place like Alabama, it is difficult to take on a "promising looking prospect" as head coach. Alabama probably can't try that experiment. Indiana could.
We would have to get back to 1999-2007 levels of desperation to try that.

 

[CoolBreeze]

What a thread. I just think NIL & the portal are manifest from the powers that be to unseat the college tradition and their power teams, specifically in the South. We really are not setup to compete in this environment because the billionaires are scarce around here. Congrats to CC and the IU program but the sample size is way too small to know anything about where they are headed. Yep, I miss Nick and his hard nosed teams just as I missed Coach Bryant. But just as it was with the latter, we are in for a deflation back to the middle of the pack after losing CNS. Now, our current coach is a player's coach. I can't stand to listen to his pressers, can't say I like his general attitude on the field and I certainly cannot stand some of the embarrassment we have endured over the past couple of years. But the guy is a good coach. He is relatively young and has an impressive winning record. It was always going to take some time for him to adjust to the Capstone and the SEC environment and I think he has weathered that 24 month storm fairly well. I just feel that his best days are in front of him and he will make the adjustments necessary to get us back to where we need to be. It is not blind faith as I have seen some really good stuff from him. We are in a new era now with a landscape slanted against us and to keep a player's coach on board without creating literal and perceptive chaos in the program is imperative in my opinion. I am with him 100% for that reason.

 

[KrAzY3]

Before 2020 it would take a coach 3 years minimum to get his own recruits, implement a system etc.

Now, you can flip an entire roster in 1-2 years. Some will do better than others.

After last year we kept the RB room and OL intact. And look at what we got? This year we are losing 85% of our OL and just grabbed an RB1 from the portal.

So he either learned OR is just reacting to pressure. I’m guessing it’s the latter. Which doesn’t give me confidence.

I'm looking for staff changes and results.

I was here talking about some of these issues last year. DeBoer knew about them as well obviously, so that does signal some stubbornness when it comes to his approach. But! Being stubborn doesn't mean you'll never change. We're seeing movement with the players, if we see similar movement with the staff I'll just have to hope that he got the idea that you need an actual running game and a degree of physicality to be consistent at this level. There might be some growing pains, but I imagine we'll know soon enough if he's serious about this or not.

 

[CoolBreeze]

Why Saban hopes DeBoer gets ‘ship going in the right direction’ at Alabama soon

On the Pat McAfee show, the topic of Kalen DeBoer and the Alabama Crimson Tide came up during an interview with Nick Saban, and Saban shared his thoughts about Alabama’s 2025 season and how DeBoer is doing at Alabama.

www.yardbarker.com

 

[TD7]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2008967717982970274

 

[CoolBreeze]

DeBoer is getting the message for sure. Ball is now in his court.

 

[Jack Bourbon]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2008967717982970274

I asked what Sabans comments were after Rose Bowl. I think these are the first. Probably was biting his tongue

 

[Bamabuzzard]

I asked what Sabans comments were after Rose Bowl. I think these are the first. Probably was biting his tongue

He probably just finished throwing up to even make comments.

 

[Tidewater]

And before I get push back please know, I don’t care about the record or where we ended up. I do care that more than half of our games we really looked uninspired. That I care about.

I'm with you on that.
I admired some of the Franchione teams and some of the players for Mike Shula because they were playing handicapped by sanctions, but a lot of those guys gave it their all. They often were not the best athletes or the better team, but they busted their butts for Bama. I get choked up talking about Lane Bearden kicking with a bad knee. Huge admiration for that kind of dedication.
I can accept Bama losing, but please do not lose from lack of effort. Jogging on the field, for example, when hustle might have made a difference is a bad look.