What to believe and not about the Alabama Crimson Tide

The Alabama Football Nation has had months to contemplate the full meaning of lost inevitability. Like many harsh realities, it took a loss to Vanderbilt for full comprehension. Nick Saban's Alabama is no more. What the future holds for the Alabama Crimson Tide program is unclear. Sorting through the possibilities, there are a few things we can believe and other things to disbelieve.

One solid belief is Alabama will bounce back. Bouncing back does not mean regaining any sense of inevitable success that Nick Saban created. After a college football weekend of upsets, there is much talk about the Transfer Portal and the new parity resulting from annual roster rebuilds. The Portal appears to have narrowed the gap in the SEC, between the league's best and almost every other SEC team.

Alabama Crimson Tide fans are not interested in using parity as an excuse. Not in dispute is an Alabama loss to Vanderbilt is always inexcusable. Much chatter has compared Alabama's loss to Vandy to the Crimson Tide's loss to ULM in 2007. The two losses are not close to being comparable. What Nick Saban inherited in 2007 and what Kalen DeBoer inherited in 2024 are massively different. Alabama and Vandy in 2024 are far better teams than Alabama and ULM were in 2007.

So what do we believe about Alabama's future in 2024? If we look at history, a loss to Vandy is tied to bad seasons. On Saturday, the SEC Network broadcast team talked about Alabama losing to Vandy in Nashville in 1976. The correct history is Alabama has now lost to Vandy six times, going back to the 1951 season. Three of the six losses (1951, 1955, and 1956) were by unquestionably bad Alabama football teams. Alabama's 1969 team was only four seasons past back-to-back Alabama National Championships. The 1969 team finished 6-5. Not in 1976, but in 1984, Alabama lost to Vandy again, this time in Tuscaloosa. Alabama finished the 1984 season 5-6.

The history does not portend gloom and doom. What it might suggest is the Crimson Tide needs a reset. The Tide is probably not as good as the team that beat Georgia or as bad as the team that lost to Vanderbilt. Alabama fans are not wrong to ask if serious defensive flaws are fixable. Is it time for Kalen DeBoer to take drastic action by shaking up his coaching staff? Maybe, Probably, Absolutely Not? We don't know what to believe. Kalen DeBoer's Alabama honeymoon is over, but it is too early to conclude DeBoer has no solutions. Until he finds those solutions, it is fair for Alabama football fans to believe the Crimson Tide has more questions than answers.