In business, whenever something is being rebuilt or refurbished, most contractors rely on a blueprint that requires the work to begin from the ground up, ensuring the foundation is reestablished and strengthened before anything else is added.
This same contractor's approach applies to sports, football in general, and it's hit home now more than ever for Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer in his third season since taking over the reins of the program from Hall of Fame architect Nick Saban.
When Saban arrived in Tuscaloosa in 2007, he and strength coach Scott Cochran inherited a fractured team lacking identity, discipline, and physical dominance. Their solution was simple but not instant: rebuild from the inside out. The cornerstone was an elite strength and conditioning program that produced durability, depth, and a signature late-season edge. By November, Alabama didn’t just win — they wore opponents down, turning close games into blowouts.
That foundation fueled a decade of dominance: 10+ wins every year, six national titles, and a physical identity few could match. The peak came in 2020 — Saban’s last championship — even as Cochran had already left for Georgia in 2019. After Cochran’s departure, David Ballou took over the strength program. Since then, many around the program — players, former players, and observers — have noted a noticeable drop in the old physicality and conditioning edge that used to separate Alabama from everyone else. These cracks Saban left behind in 2024 became DeBoer’s inheritance.
Former national champion Martin Houston put it bluntly on his Houston Huddle podcast this week:
“They still work under the same auspice of the football strength and conditioning coach," Houston said. "I guess, to me, the same thing that got Alabama whooped this year in football is the same thing that has gotten Nate Oats whooped every year in basketball. And this year, it’s probably more obvious in these two sports because it’s all or nothing. They don’t have the physical makeup, mentally or physically, to execute other than that.”
Martin Houston questions Alabama's physical makeup under David Ballou
In Alabama football's case, Houston is right; something has to be adjusted or changed. Especially after seeing Alabama be manhandled by Georgia in the SEC title game this past December, then again be embarrassed upfront by Indiana at the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day, en route to the Hoosier championship run. With that being said, like any good contractor, DeBoer and company have to decide whether to patch the surface or tear it back down to the slab. History and Alabama’s own past show the answer: real reconstruction starts with the foundation.
I say this because the blueprint hasn’t changed since 2007: championships aren’t won with surface fixes or scheme tweaks alone. They’re built on bodies that can endure, minds that stay locked in, and teams that get stronger when everyone else fades.
In my opinion, if Alabama truly wants to return to the mountaintop, and not just visit it, DeBoer must do exactly what Saban and Cochran did: tear it back to the slab, pour a new foundation of toughness and conditioning, and then build everything else on top. Anything less, and the cracks will keep spreading. History has already shown what happens when the foundation is ignored and what becomes possible when it’s rebuilt correctly.