After 12 games we're 9-3. Let's revisit our thoughts and outlook on Coach Kalen DeBoer

[Bama9001]

Most expected we'd make the playoffs this year, the TWELVE team playoff. We didn't. There are all kinds of excuses (or reasons) but the bottom line is the team didn't live up to expectations in many ways. When you lose to Vanderbilt you can't blame the committee. The way CKD communicates doesn't show much respect for the fans.

Grade is C-

Recruiting was good if you're counting stars. Got our butts kicked in state. Many of the states best recent recruits are at Clemson and Auburn. The state's #1 player this year went somewhere else...can't remember where. We need to fix that. If he can't out recruit Freeze his tenure will be short.

We did absolutely nothing to develop our other QBs...zero, zilch. For me, when Ty came in for the one snap after JM got hurt and Young came in with him...that was a major red flag. Does he not even get any reps with the first team in practice?

Over the years I've watched many, many transitions from great coaches to the next coach. Most are pretty tough. The big tell on when a guy is going to fail is when they start setting a bunch of negative milestones (such as losing to vandebilt for the first time in 40 years). We have another shot this year if we fail to hit ten wins. Point being, this tell is not trending in the right direction. When was the last time we lost to two teams that didn't have a winning regular season record?

Maybe D+ but I'm staying with C-. There were good things that get overlooked because we came up short.

 

[cdub55]

In regards to reps for Simpson, I would also be curious to know the philosophy on that for CKD. It is obvious Saban was big on getting multiple QB's reps. Just this year you can tell very quickly that Kiffin and Smart both did an excellent job of developing their backups as they both were pushed into situation due to injury and excelled. I would like to think this is something that we as a staff put a premium on. Unfortunately due to the lack of game reps and not getting to see Ty throw the ball much, I don't have any answers to these questions.

 

[DzynKingRTR]

We’ll also consider that the refs made two huge calls that changed the game and both went Auburn’s way.

1) The only holding call all night was on Alabama on what would’ve been a 50 yard touchdown

2) Auburn ran out of time towards the end of the half or would have if the refs let it play out. But the refs allowed a review and it allowed Auburn to put their FG team on the field whereas that never happens if the play would’ve happened naturally.

They did not even start the clock until barn snapped the ball. The whole fiasco prompted a rule change. Oh wait. it made them actually enforce a rule ALREADY IN PLACE!

 

[Bamabuzzard]

Year one, DeBoer did fine. If you read between the lines of some of the recent comments it was obvious this team was held together with shoestring and bubble gum after Saban left, and what he allowed to develop (and thus dumped into DeBoer's lap) with LANK certainly hindered what CKD could do.

I suspect we'll see a very different team next year as many of the 'problematic' faces will be gone.

It will be interesting to see if those who are judging him so harshly will actually admit they jumped the gun when that happens.

RTR

I agree CA, he walked into a team dynamic that hindered a lot of growth. I admittedly graded him very tough and will stick with my D+ grade because the bulk of the grade comes down to a perceived lack of preparation by the staff in two games (Vandy and OU) which is inexcusable.

But taking into context the turd in the punch bowl he had to deal with concerning the team/lockerroom dynamics, I am very much still in the camp of "We got the right coach" and "he just needs his players and his system in place". I am excited to see the development of the team and the staff once a few of these players hopefully cycle out of the program.

 

[PA Tide Fan]

So, what you are saying is that if the CFPC had not been gutless in choosing a team with a relatively pathetic resume from an almost garbage conference over a team with a top 5 resume and consensus # 5-7 by most objective measures, a team from easily the toughest conference in football (IMO, the SEC having one of the best reg seasons in college football history (13 bowl teams - 7 teams 9-3 or better 2 more 8-4.) - the # of losses of the best team, whom Alabama beat with a masterful offensive game plan, was 2. No one had fewer and Alabama had the 2nd toughest schedule of the top 9 teams, only UGA’s was tougher - criminally tough given by one of the worst commissioners in college football), then you would have considered the season a success. But since the Committee bowed to public pressure and gagged, Alabama is a failure.

Your logic is not logical.

No, what the CFPC did or failed to do was discussed in other threads. But the fact is they couldn't have avoided selecting us if we'd have beaten a couple of teams we should have beat. This thread is about what kind of job DeBoer has done. Many Bama fans consider the Vandy and OU losses as bad losses, not just the CFPC. Popular reasons that are given for the season we had was "well, we had a lot of transfers after Saban's retirement"or "DeBoer couldn't install his offense because of Milroe etc." or "the LANK players were causing problems". Those reasons would make more sense if we'd have gone 6-6. But when you look at the teams we beat vs. the teams we lost to it makes less sense. If the transfers, offense, and LANK were major problems then why didn't it lead to losses against more good teams instead of the average ones?

If we look at the players that transferred after Saban's retirement I think Bond was the only key player on offense that transferred but since we had Ryan Williams this season that's basically a "wash". It would have been great to have both but getting one for the other shouldn't have hurt us there. Losing Downs and Amos on defense were definitely big losses, no denying that but in spite of that we finished 10th in the nation in scoring defense, better than 3 of the playoff teams (Georgia, Boise and Clemson). On offense we may not have had DeBoer's offense but whatever type of hybrid system we may have been using worked pretty well. We scored 42 points against a respectable Wisconsin defense, 41 vs. Georgia, 34 vs. Missouri and 42 vs. LSU. We ranked 18th in scoring offense which was also better than 3 playoff teams (Texas, Penn State, and Georgia). There's no denying LANK is a problem but it was for Saban too. In spite of that Saban got us to the semifinal and very close to a championship game with only a 4 team playoff.

I think this season is mostly a result of the coaching staff and their inability to get themselves and the team focused after a big win and also the inability to make in game adjustments when something wasn't working . I'm not calling for DeBoer to be fired but I'd have to give him a grade around C- to D for his first season.

 

[teamplayer]

It's all about results.

I don't think anyone can consider a year you win an SEC championship or a National Championship anything other than a great year. So, that would be an A.

If you make the SEC championship or playoff, that would be a B. That's really the standard at Alabama.

It was an up and down season. He almost made the SEC championship and he almost made the playoff, so I'd have to give him a C.

I'm not happy with that though. I went 8 straight years without making a C on a report card so I'm not the type to be like yeah that's a good grade, because I expect better.

Many places would be very happy with the year we had. However, as you mention, we are Alabama. Making a C is considered average, so I would say 9-3 with no championships was an average year. However, as a new coach in the toughest league in America with some serious roster issues, I would probably give him an 80 since they finished off a nice recruiting class. I guess that would be a B-. I hope to see more consistency from week to week and even quarter to quarter next year, but I would have to consider year one a success for Coach DeBoer.

 

[countrytider]

I have to give CKD somewhere between a C and a B-. On one hand Bama beat Georgia, Auburn, LSU, SC, and Missouri. Of course the losses to Vandy, Tennessee, and Oklahoma were brutal. So for me the wins kind of balance the losses to a C.

But then you consider how much depth was lost from this team via the transfer portal and then some of the key players that left and you have to bump up what was accomplished a little bit. You also have to account for the fact that he inherited a dynamic, but limited quarterback. At his best Milroe was a Heisman level candidate. But when he wasn't on his game he was really bad and not the kind of QB that could game manage when he was off. When you consider these factors I think CKD rises to C+/B- territory.

I think we will learn a lot more about him as a coach this year with an entire recruiting class and portal class entering/exiting. This year has been cooking with what you have in the pantry and a few items you brought with you. Next year is much more about him cooking with more of his own ingredients. Grading won't be so forgiving next year.

The Vandy and OU losses were brutal, and unacceptable. They are in a category of their own.

No loss is “ok”, but the UT loss is at least understandable. The other two is what did us in.

 

[uafan4life]

It's not the losing of three games that is, necessarily, the problem.

The problem is which three games we lost and how we lost them...

Had we lost to, say, Georgia and home and then Tennersee and LSU on the road it would be like, "Okay, we know where we are and where we need to improve."

However, we beat Georgia and then curb-stomped LSU in their house while losing three games due to playing unprepared and without discipline.

This team had the potential to be 13-0, the SEC Champion, and the number one seed in the playoff right now.

The keywords for this season are "Disappointment" and "Squander"...

 

[CoolBreeze]

The Vandy and OU losses were brutal, and unacceptable. They are in a category of their own.

No loss is “ok”, but the UT loss is at least understandable. The other two is what did us in.

True for Vandy but OU at home playing Alabama just for bowl eligibility after a bye week is a tough out. I can live with the loss it is just the way we lost. I mean, that effort was totally embarrassing, even more so than the Vandy loss.

 

[KrAzY3]

The Vandy and OU losses were brutal, and unacceptable. They are in a category of their own.

No loss is “ok”, but the UT loss is at least understandable. The other two is what did us in.

In terms of grading the coaches, the Vandy one really sticks with me because that one was 100% on the coaches. First off if you just look at the overall result it's impossible to say they did a good job. Sure, Vanderbilt also played Texas close, but Texas still won.

However, sending in wrong players on that punt return was just unacceptable. You can't do that, it lead to a Vanderbilt TD which was the difference in the game. Coaching cost the team that game, period and as such it kept Alabama both out of the playoff and the SECCG.

Despite the fact that I gave DeBoer a C, he has to make some changes to clean that staff up a bit. The OC for instance at least needs some help, he actually ran the second worst offense in all of college football one year at Indiana. So, I am hoping for some coaching improvements for sure.

 

[Power Eye]

We beat UGA, LSU and Auburn in year 1 of DeBoer. That should not be lost in agonizing over the three losses. We played our way out of the playoff against Oklahoma, but had SMU won on Saturday, we'd be in, so it's not like we weren't in the playoff discussion in the end either. The losses to Vandy and Oklahoma really hurt and to some extent are inexcusable. Defensively, we made strides, but offensively we never got better during the year, and may have actually gone backwards.

I will give the season a C+, and had SMU won Saturday, I'd give it a B-. DeBoer has a ton of things to address over the next 8 months, but there's a reason we really targeted him and why he has an enormous buyout. We need to give him time and be patient with his process even if this year was sacrificed to some extent out of an effort to go all in with Milroe. It really could have worked, but it didn't, the staff learns from it, and we move on.

 

[CB4]

It's not the losing of three games that is, necessarily, the problem.

The problem is which three games we lost and how we lost them...

Had we lost to, say, Georgia and home and then Tennersee and LSU on the road it would be like, "Okay, we know where we are and where we need to improve."

However, we beat Georgia and then curb-stomped LSU in their house while losing three games due to playing unprepared and without discipline.

This team had the potential to be 13-0, the SEC Champion, and the number one seed in the playoff right now.

The keywords for this season are "Disappointment" and "Squander"...

I’m certainly willing to cut CKD some slack as a first year coach trying to manage a messy situation. However, too often we saw this team time after time make mistakes that we as Alabama have become unaccustomed to.

i believe Seven Up use to go by the moniker of “The Un-Cola”. This team at times was “The Un-Bama” - Undisciplined, Unprepared, and Unaware.

 

[Foleybammer]

Grade B.
This team does not have a championship roster. DeBoer had to deal with a running qb who doesn't follow his blocks well and continually can't read a defense after the snap.
Inexperienced secondary, no dominant d lineman and leadership at times questionable. If we get better qb play vs Tennessee and Oklahoma we go 11-1. Vanderbilt our lber play was horrendous!
Michigan projected to have four first round draft picks and went 7-5.
I don't see many on this team.

 

[BamaInCummingGA]

Like most, I am disappointed in the way the season turned out. However, I'm not ready to throw the baby out with the bath water.
I believe there were some issues in the locker room and some buy in issues as well as not having his types of players on offense and defense to run what they want to run.
Players learning an all new system on defense and caught Vandy at the wrong time for that.
OU was just a catastrophe all the way around. Defense did only give up 10-13 points, I believe.
I am not qualified to grade CKD.
I will give him 2 more years to get a couple of full recruiting classes on the field and then see what we look like.

 

[mlingerfelt31]

I will give CKD a B- 9-3 is super for a first year head coach something we have not in a long time,

 

[editder]

I mostly just wish we'd mixed up the snapcount after Oklahoma had two weeks to time it up perfectly. Someone really should have thought of that.

Wouldn’t have helped. Our guys would have false started.

 

[bamaclimber]

To get an "A" you have to coach players to their full potential and outsmart opposing coaches. DeBoer did this a couple of times.

To get a "B" you have to use the players you've got well, and hold serve against opposing coaches. DeBoer did this a couple of times.

To get a "C" you have to put more talented players in a position to fail instead of succeed, and you have to get outsmarted by opposing coaches on occasion. DeBoer did this a couple of time.

To get a "D" you have to squander talent and get outsmarted regularly. DeBoer avoided this.

I give DeBoar a C+ in season 1.

 

[22Musso22]

Grade F

 

[uafan4life]

To get an "A" you have to coach players to their full potential and outsmart opposing coaches. DeBoer did this a couple of times.

To get a "B" you have to use the players you've got well, and hold serve against opposing coaches. DeBoer did this a couple of times.

To get a "C" you have to put more talented players in a position to fail instead of succeed, and you have to get outsmarted by opposing coaches on occasion. DeBoer did this a couple of time.

To get a "D" you have to squander talent and get outsmarted regularly. DeBoer avoided this.

I give DeBoar a C+ in season 1.

By your definition, overall, it has to be a D grade.

This team had the potential - and demonstrated it thusly on the field - to be undefeated right now.

We lost three games we shouldn't have lost because the team was not prepared to win those games. If that's not squandering talent, I don't know what is...

 

[Bamabuzzard]

Can anyone confirm if DeBoer got rid of most of the analysts' positions that Saban hired? I've read on multiple boards that when he got here he cleaned house with the analyst's positions. If that's true, it may be why the game planning was so hit and miss. Less sets of qualified eyes on the team and things got missed.