After 11 games we're 8-3. Let's revisit our thoughts and outlook on Coach Kalen DeBoer

[arthurdawg]

I know in a pragmatic sense we have to give him 3 years or we won’t be able to get another promising HC to come here.

But where I am right now after a couple nights of sleep.

He could get canned today and I wouldn’t flinch.

We are 8-3 for a lot of reasons but number one is that he acquiesced to the demands of a group of 18-22 year old kids instead of doing things the right way.

We have specifically lost 3 games because of him not making a change at QB.

We would not have lost to Vandy, Tenn, OU with either Ty or Dylan.

I’d rather be 9-2 w/ losses to say UGA, LSU, but having played the right guys.

Again I know we have to continue a wait and see approach but I’m pretty close to being completely soured to the whole staff.

That is my big question... I'm pretty sure Ty or Dylan would be better... But now we will never know. And we seem to have been very obstinate about playing Milroe the last two years.

 

[uaintn]

No way I think he should be fired now. He inherited way too many problems for that. My concerns are much as others have stated and the game in Norman changed my perception of the whole staff.

However, even if he resigned right now, I cannot think of one coach who might come that I am certain would be an upgrade. Sark/Day/Smart/Lanning are at their final college stint and hugely well-paid with easy recruiting. Lane has way too much baggage, and I'm not sure he is a better head coach.

My biggest problem is that the team has not improved during the season. These guys would probably lose again to Tennessee and to Oklahoma. (The VU game was very fluky and they have suffered in the injury department, so I'd view that one differently).

I also agree with those who say if adjustments are being made in-game they are far too subtle for me to notice -- and they certainly aren't paying major dividends during the game. I expected the team to come out of the locker room and throttle VU. Sadly, I did not expect that to happen at OU.

Finally, I have 0 inside information, but believe the stories about Milroe basically being guaranteed the QB job till he didn't want it (and, if so, others may have similar assurances for their positions). I cannot fathom any other reason for not at least trying someone else for a couple of series when 4 was struggling. I mean, you do it with a pitcher who suddenly can't find the strike zone, a guard who suddenly can't hit a shot, a goalie who gives up three quick ones in the backof the net... If that's true, CKD is limited in what he can do on the offensive side of the football.

Note: I honestly do not know that anything would have gone differently with a back up quarterback, it's just that I can think of three occasions where many coaches would have at least tried it.

 

[davefrat]

No way I think he should be fired now. He inherited way too many problems for that. My concerns are much as others have stated and the game in Norman changed my perception of the whole staff.

However, even if he resigned right now, I cannot think of one coach who might come that I am certain would be an upgrade. Sark/Day/Smart/Lanning are at their final college stint and hugely well-paid with easy recruiting. Lane has way too much baggage, and I'm not sure he is a better head coach.

My biggest problem is that the team has not improved during the season. These guys would probably lose again to Tennessee and to Oklahoma. (The VU game was very fluky and they have suffered in the injury department, so I'd view that one differently).

I also agree with those who say if adjustments are being made in-game they are far too subtle for me to notice -- and they certainly aren't paying major dividends during the game. I expected the team to come out of the locker room and throttle VU. Sadly, I did not expect that to happen at OU.

Finally, I have 0 inside information, but believe the stories about Milroe basically being guaranteed the QB job till he didn't want it (and, if so, others may have similar assurances for their positions). I cannot fathom any other reason for not at least trying someone else for a couple of series when 4 was struggling. I mean, you do it with a pitcher who suddenly can't find the strike zone, a guard who suddenly can't hit a shot, a goalie who gives up three quick ones in the backof the net... If that's true, CKD is limited in what he can do on the offensive side of the football.

Note: I honestly do not know that anything would have gone differently with a back up quarterback, it's just that I can think of three occasions where many coaches would have at least tried it.

For starters, we probably wouldn't be running an offense that was predicated on the QB running the ball every other snap.

The OU game had some of the worst play calling I've seen in quite some time from a Bama team.

And wasn't the pick 6 basically the same play that almost got intercepted on the prior series where the receivers stood around looking at each other instead of blocking?

 

[REBELZED]

I rewatched his post game presser from Saturday night yesterday. Afterwards I didn’t have a good feeling. He seemed anxious and unsettled, and quite frankly “lost”. How much of that was just frustration, I can’t say. But CKD’s demeanor didn’t instill a bunch of confidence in me.

I'll be honest - CKD's demeanor has never inspired confidence in me. He is relatively soft-spoken, often stammers through phrases, seems a bit uncertain, and just generally does not exude confidence himself.

That said, I think those are just some of the quirks of his personality and how/where he was raised. And I am sure his personality was not that much different at his previous stops, but it never kept him from winning before.

I do think we hired the best coach we could and I still have faith in his ability to lead our program. But man, when the chips are down like they are now, it is hard to watch his pressers and feel reassured at all...

 

[NoNC4Tubs]

I was supportive of the hiring of CKD, and now quite frankly I have no idea how successful or long his tenure will be. I have been underwhelmed with his OC and DC, there is something about hiring friends and former assistants that does not always workout and makes it hard to be objective about their performance. I hope CKD does not turn out to be another Brian Harsin. If he cleans house of the LANK crew and maybe makes some coaching changes it would be a step in the right direction, but I fear that by doing that next year may not be any better than this year. We will see.

Defense played well enough to win this weekend.

Offense is handcuffed with Milroe at the helm. I can't think of a single OC that could have done better with what we have.

Just two more games...

 

[JDCrimson]

Its not false. When you see, in person, Milroe sitting next to CKD at basketball game talking it up two weeks after he is hired, you know there is no open competition. You cant show that kind of favoritism in an open QB competition.

But if he's your guy, you probably go to a basketball game with him, hell you probably even catch a movie or two with him as well.

Link...?

Absolutely false!!!

 

[Joefus]

Feels like a coach still getting his feet wet but he’s a longtime head coach. I’m not ready to say one way or another yet but I don’t feel all that great about him or our staff as a whole right now. They seem to be incapable of making adjustments and it’s hard to watch tbh. I’ll reserve judgement till next year with a new qb and a fully installed offense etc

 

[CrimsonBloodn62]

Its not false. When you see, in person, Milroe sitting next to CKD at basketball game talking it up two weeks after he is hired, you know there is no open competition. You cant show that kind of favoritism in an open QB competition.

You noticed it too, I see. I kept noticing after CKD was hired that any function or sporting event that CKD was at Milroe was always right beside him.

 

[JDCrimson]

There are only two currencies of any value in college football right now for recruits 1) NIL and 2) playing time. Scholarships offer little to no value. When these promises were made Yea Alabama was just getting off the ground. Saban advocated for a player led NIL collective, LANK. He wanted to build a studio at the south end of the stadium so the athletes would have the resources available to do their own NIL stuff. Sounds all noble and progressives, right? All of this to avoid outright paying players. Saban was pursuing the spirit of NIL while everyone was chasing the street version of NIL. But the athletes wanted someone to put the cash in their hands. Voila, LANK did this. The AD was behind in the NIL arena. Realizing this as a crisis with the transfer portal, the only other currency the program could offer was playing time, guaranteed playing time.

Under your examples there is a labor contract. Those professionals get paid whether they are playing or not. Thats how you can go to the bullpen. If the player gets cut for lack of performance or injury there are negotiated liquidated damages paid by the franchise. None of that is available to college programs nor the school-sanctioned collectives right now.

Finally, I have 0 inside information, but believe the stories about Milroe basically being guaranteed the QB job till he didn't want it (and, if so, others may have similar assurances for their positions). I cannot fathom any other reason for not at least trying someone else for a couple of series when 4 was struggling. I mean, you do it with a pitcher who suddenly can't find the strike zone, a guard who suddenly can't hit a shot, a goalie who gives up three quick ones in the backof the net... If that's true, CKD is limited in what he can do on the offensive side of the football.

Note: I honestly do not know that anything would have gone differently with a back up quarterback, it's just that I can think of three occasions where many coaches would have at least tried it.

 

[JDCrimson]

I think you can question pretty much anything on the defensive side of the ball. There is no player who touches the ball on every play on defense.

Whatever it is that Vandy does we simply dont know how to attack it and we havent made the effort to reach for outside help in figuring that out. We have operated under the expectation that we would not see that offensive attack again.

All of that is fair and necessary criticism of the defensive coaching. And I would say that largely falls on the DC, DL and LB coaches. The DBs gave performed above expectations.

I think it's fair to judge things like not making any adjustments.

To be fair, I'm no coach and perhaps they've made subtle adjustments, but when the other team is completely shutting down your offense and running the ball at will (without even threatening to pass) one would think it would take more drastic adjustments than things that only an expert can see.

And there are times when DeBoer looks like he's been hitting the hooka on the sideline with how bewildered he is with what is happening on the field.

 

[JDCrimson]

Agree, but he hasnt been on this stage before and his prior PCs didnt matter that much. He will learn from this same way that CNS toned down his abrasiveness over the years. You aint gonna bully pulpit the media at Alabama. Way too many people care for you to just be able to ignore or runover.

I'll be honest - CKD's demeanor has never inspired confidence in me. He is relatively soft-spoken, often stammers through phrases, seems a bit uncertain, and just generally does not exude confidence himself.

That said, I think those are just some of the quirks of his personality and how/where he was raised. And I am sure his personality was not that much different at his previous stops, but it never kept him from winning before.

I do think we hired the best coach we could and I still have faith in his ability to lead our program. But man, when the chips are down like they are now, it is hard to watch his pressers and feel reassured at all...

 

[crimsonaudio]

Solid CFBNerds thread here:

 

[Cruloc]

What I witnessed last night changed everything about my perception of this staff, this team, even the DeBoer hire.

Still wish we'd have gotten Lanning

 

[crimsonaudio]

Still wish we'd have gotten Lanning

I'm willing to give it another year, sans Milroe, to see what happens.

Remember, Lanning is 0-3 vs DeBoer.

 

[Con]

I'm willing to give it another year, sans Milroe, to see what happens.

Remember, Lanning is 0-3 vs DeBoer.

And Lanning is a lot like Kiffin in that instead of kicking he goes for it on 4th quite a bit. I guess it has worked out for him this year but it didn’t last year.

 

[carder24]

Solid CFBNerds thread here:

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thanks, yeah good read, saw this earlier on X, except the comment about anyone surpassing milroe

 

[teamplayer]

When you add in the points Oklahoma left on the field, that should've been scores, this was as bad of a curb stomping I remember us having at Bama & that includes the Shula years..

With the talent we have & we still have talent..I blame the coaching staff with this loss..

Losing didn't surprise me, but looking absolutely pathetic was just more embarrassing than I was willing to deal with. I can't believe people wasted their time watching those dudes play like junior high kids. It's difficult for me to believe that a team can have such a large disparity between their best and worst performances without there being some shady crap going on. I've seen pro wrestlers with more consistency.

 

[Cruloc]

I'm willing to give it another year, sans Milroe, to see what happens.

Remember, Lanning is 0-3 vs DeBoer.

Don't care about their head to head, DeBoer is 1-0 against Kirby and 0-1 against Clark Lhea.

I'd like to see DeBoer have a competent QB....but I'd also like to see him pull a QB that's under preforming.....I have no confidence in the latter.

 

[carder24]

A thought that occurs to me about observed sulking or confidence issues, combined with odd pressers with CKD and Sheridan, is if the roster issues are what they are and some hands are tied, then maybe they aren't all getting along very well and there is some level of bad friction? Then revealing itself in less than stellar execution on plays or resignated play calling or adjustment? Just a fraction of that could wreck us. Anyway, whether they are fully getting along or subconsciously having those problems or not, gives me optimism next season to see how different we coach and execute.

 

[teamplayer]

I want to see CKB get his guys in the program and then see how it looks. People calling for getting rid of CKD are being absolutely ridiculous and that type of move would bury us for sure. Give him a good 2, or 3 years.

He should get at least three years. That is the bare minimum amount of time. I don't think you can accurately judge a coach and his ability to run a program in less time than that unless the wheels absolutely fall off. With that said, the OU game was so embarrassing that I stopped watching in the 2nd quarter.