Kalen DeBoer isn't having much trouble guarding against complacency with Alabama these days. His team leaders are doing that for him.
The mood around the locker room is far from a team just happy to have won five consecutive games. If you listened to Ty Simpson in the postgame of Alabama's wins over Vanderbilt and Missouri without knowing the score, you would assume the Crimson Tide had lost.
Simpson knows Alabama can be a lot better than they have been. That they have won games anyway is nice, but some of the things they have put on tape in recent weeks will get them beat. And if they don't continue to improve, they won't have a chance at obtaining the team's ultimate goal of winning a National Championship.
That goal didn't change just because of one loss. It didn't change because of last season's 9-4 season, either. That's the goal every year. That's the expectation of the fanbase.
Alabama's offense is going to have to play at an elite level this weekend against Tennessee. The Vols will put up some points on the Tide's defense, and if Alabama struggles for a third week in a row in plus-territory, it may not be able to keep up.
According to Kadyn Proctor, Simpson lit into the offense during team meetings on Monday.
"He's just a great leader, speaks all the time," Proctor told reporters on Tuesday. "Ripped our ass when we were in the team meeting yesterday. He knows how to get us riled up."
Proctor said that Simpson's message was that "we need to be better." That's something that Proctor certainly agrees with.
"We still haven't played a full game as an offensive line, as a quarterback, at any position," Proctor said.
Ty Simpson is the leader that Alabama has sorely needed
Simpson wouldn't go fully into what he said to the offense on Monday during the meeting, preferring the bulk of it stay between him and the team. But he did speak to his overarching message and what they need to do moving forward to reach the level they have the potential to obtain.
"I just kinda told it how it was, how I felt," Simpson told reporters when asked about Proctor's comments. "As a leader, it's my job to make sure that I get the best out of guys, that I get the best out of myself, and I just felt like the last couple of games we hadn't executed very well. I just wanted to make sure that the guys understand what the standard is here, and what the standard is of this offense."
It's easy when you are losing to look yourself in the mirror and confront your deficiencies. Alabama did that after losing to Florida State, and they've played much better since.
It's a lot harder to admit when things aren't going the way they should when you are winning anyway. Alabama beat Vanderbilt and Missouri, hung on against Georgia as well, despite not playing perfect football, particularly on offense.
Alabama has mostly started well on offense, but they've struggled in the second halves. After getting shut out in the second half against Georgia, the Tide mustered 16 second-half points against Vanderbilt, but seven of those came with under a minute to play with the game well in hand. Last week against Missouri, Alabama mustered only 10 second-half points.
That won't be good enough this week against Tennessee. The Vols will bring a better offense to Tuscaloosa than any opponent Alabama has faced this weekend. Even with a quality game plan by Kane Wommack, Tennessee is going to put up some points, and it will be on Simpson and the offense to answer.
Simpson is well aware of that, and he's setting the tone for the team early in the week.