No doubt about it. This is such a critical year for Kalen DeBoer leading the Alabama Crimson Tide. While they were able to get to the College Football Playoff, and win a first-round game nevertheless, it is all about winning SEC and national championships at Alabama. That is the standard put in place by Nick Saban, Paul "Bear" Bryant, and others. So it remains to be seen if DeBoer is up for the challenge.
When asked about if national titles will define his run at Alabama, DeBoer said this at SEC Media Days.
“I certainly know that’s an important part of what’s happened in the program, so I wouldn’t doubt if that’s the case,” DeBoer said. “I’m not focused on that. I’m focused on just helping our program be the best and trying to bring out best and raise the level of everyone around me, from coaching staff to our players; trying to maximize what we’re capable every single day.”
His response caught the attention of one Paul Finebaum. The ESPN analyst was not happy to hear it.
Finebaum then ripped into DeBoer during Thursday's edition of First Take on DeBoer's comments.
“He doesn’t think words matter at Media Days, but they do matter, for this reason,” Finebaum said. “Because, you’re trying to raise money to buy players nowadays. You need momentum. You have to ultimately win, but the problem that Kalen DeBoer created yesterday is that he’s not going to have momentum from people he really needs. I spoke this morning to a former Alabama football player, a prominent player, who played for and won championships. National Championships, not CFP road wins."
Finebaum continued saying how these laissez-faire comments from DeBoer have landed with players.
“I’ll tell you what he said. This isn’t my opinion. I’m a pundit. This guy played at Alabama and knows the pulse of Alabama," Finebaum continued. "He said, ‘What Kalen DeBoer said yesterday is the reason why he will not succeed, nor will he ever win a National Championship.’ You have to have the DNA to do it. I know how fans think, I know how former players think, and I know what the money people think. They did not like what he said yesterday."
To wrap up his point, Finebaum seems to be of the belief DeBoer is never going to win a national title.
“It may sound cruel because Kalen DeBoer has won all these games and he has all these great things, but he doesn’t have a championship," Finebaum concluded. "What I heard yesterday is that he’s not thinking about a National Championship. If you’re not thinking about a National Championship at Alabama, you don’t need to be there.”
Look. People have every reason to be miffed by what DeBoer, and Finebaum, said. From DeBoer's perspective, he needs to come to grips with reality that he is coaching at Alabama and no longer at Washington, Fresno State, Indiana, Sioux Falls, or any of his other places of employment. It is different here. Furthermore, how have the last two seasons not been a wake-up call for what he is asked to do?
As for Finebaum, he has covered the Alabama program for about half a century. Finebaum has seen everything. From good, to bad, to downright ugly, it has not mattered. While DeBoer may never achieve what Saban and Bryant did before him, all it takes is for the stars to align once to be revered as Gene Stallings is in Tuscaloosa. We may need to give DeBoer more time, or he may just walk away...
DeBoer does have a bit of a reputation of being a job-hopper, so we all need to keep that in mind, too.
Paul Finebaum contemplates if Kalen DeBoer has the DNA of a champion
Let's be honest with ourselves. People and pundits abound are going to be hypercritical of a highly-compensated and well-thought-of head coach who has yet to win a national championship ... until he does. These same people said similiar things about Ryan Day and Kirby Smart before they won their first. Now they are widely seen as two of the three best head coaches across college football today.
DeBoer changing lanes and coming to the SEC has unfortunately knocked him down a peg. Other head coaches who have done less than him to date, such as Dan Lanning at Oregon and Steve Sarkisian at Texas, garner more praise than DeBoer these days. It may be merited, or totally out of bounds. Either way, DeBoer needs to take advantage of his team flying under the radar a little bit.
While reasonable expectations for Alabama this year are to return to the College Football Playoff and go on a deeper run than a year ago, to say this team is ready to win a national championship may be a bit much. DeBoer has a strong team, but one that still needs so much to go right for that to happen. We have seen crazier things happen in the sport, such as Indiana going undefeated only a year ago.
Right now, we can only take DeBoer at his word. He has other things to focus in on than merely trying to win a national championship. Again, this is only year three for him at the helm of the operation. While he did retain a handful of great players who once played for Saban, we are now another year removed from him being on the sidelines. This Alabama team will reflect DeBoer even more so now.
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Overall, DeBoer and Finebaum have their reasons behind what they said. DeBoer is trying to keep everything together ahead of what will surely be a critical season for him. Meanwhile, Finebaum is calling it as he sees it. He knows what this job is all about. DeBoer was hand-selected by Greg Byrne to replace Saban. After winning big with Nate Oats on the hardwood, this one has had mixed reviews.
Ultimately, we will quickly find out if DeBoer has the necessary mindset to bring Alabama yet another national championship. If he does make it happen, it is going to look different than how Saban, Bryant, and Stallings did it, and that is totally fine. However, we have seen plenty of coaches in between Bryant and Saban not named Stallings that failed to live up to the expectations set forth by this job.
It may be too harsh to judge DeBoer on the championship scale this year, but know that it is coming.
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