Knowing Saban and the way he handled things over the years .. a phone call is likely made. Not just from Saban, but important folks have told DH to tone his message down and he didn't.
Link: 2026 Transfer Portal
- Thread starter AlistarWills
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Saban is well aware that what grown men do he has no control over unlike when he was their head coach and he controlled quite a bit. If the mailman stops for every barking dog, they will never get the mail delivered. There are A LOT of barking dogs in today's sports world. Nick ain't wasting his time chasing down and checking every former player who says something he doesn't agree with. Saban has always used his platform in press conferences to send a message. This was Saban sending a message to DH, "You trash Alabama, this is how you will be remembered." Basically, check yourself before you wreck yourself.
Absolutely!! the last few pages discussing DH rant during the playoffs is a stark reminder that no player, and I mean no player regardless of what you did at Bama, is above the University of Alabama!
Do you still think coaching changes are imminent?
Right or wrong, DH and other former players are speaking out as Alabama men. The irony is that the concept of an Alabama man is shrinking.
Who do you even pull for anymore? Is Jalen Hurts an Alabama man? I’ve always claimed him. Are Gibbs and Jamo Alabama men for spending a year with us? What about Horton? He spent a year, too. I claim Gibbs and Jamo because they were here for their last year but will not claim Horton. I claim Hurts because we drove him away, but I don’t claim Isaiah Bond because I perceive him as bailing on us for money.
Yes. People are being impatient right now. Getting worked up on lack of movements within staff and seeing coach Kap on recruiting trail. This means nothing.
It doesn't help anyone when people continue to harp on and on about the coaching staff changes.
My advice for those:
Be patient. Guys, just be patient.
Not arguing with you, I think I've tried to relegate my thoughts on the matter to hypotheticals while taking a wait and see approach, but there's an account which says that there will be no OL changes so I understand the nervousness.
Then again I also outlined how you could keep the coaches but shuffle responsibilities enough to address at least some of the problems, but it is hard to be patient and wait to see which reality we end up with at the end.
I get it but Saban did similar thing when he was coaching. He would make changes in late Jan and early Feb. Now, that was when we had Feb signing day at that time, but the point remains.
Exactly! It's a very slippery slope to act like we know better than the coaching staff. DeBoer has my full support, no matter what he decides to do with the coaching staff. Contrary to popular belief, there is nobody who cares more about winning and being successful here than he does. After all, he is the one getting paid the big bucks, and he is the one with an 80% career win percentage, so we are in very capable hands. He's forgotten more about coaching than any of us will ever know.
1) This is a message board about Alabama Football so discussion is kinda the premise behind it.
2) Yes he knows football and has a proven track record but he is not omnipotent. I have coached football for 20 years and don't have half the football knowledge or resume as CKD but I do have enough football acumen to know when I see a group of players underachieving and not performing. The OL did both this season and a change is needed, whether it be a coaching change, personnel, or both.
So what you're saying is, only Debbie Downers are allowed to discuss? I'm just trying to inject some much needed positivity into this board, because it's been constant negativity ever since the Indiana game, even though there's plenty of reasons to be excited for the future. I mean, how good is Keelon Russell gonna be? What about EJ Crowell? Say what you want about our struggles this season, but DeBoer and co have absolutely grand slammed it out of the park when it comes to recruiting, so it stands to reason that things are only going to get better from here. Just gotta have a little faith and conviction that you made the right hire, even though it may not be going 100% exactly as you'd hoped, because things are not always going to go your way immediately. A good coach will right the ship, and his track record says that he will.
I think it's wise to assume that none of us know how to run a football program better than CKD. I will say though, that I don't want his undoing at Alabama to be because he couldn't make the tough decision to let someone go. Not to compare DeBoer to Shula, but Shula's unwillingness to fire anyone, particularly Dave Rader, was his biggest undoing. A more appropriate comparison might be Mark Richt. He was completely unwilling to fire staff and it really did him in at UGA. Some coaches just don't have it in them to fire people, even when it seems clear to everyone else that there needs to be a change. I don't think that has anything to do with their football knowledge, but is just a personality trait they don't possess.
Seems to me we have done "ok" in the portal.
Hopefully they will be developed and shine in the fall.
Hopefully they will be developed and shine in the fall.
To me, we have addressed our biggest needs - which are OL and DL.
I'm trying to dance around specifically criticizing DeBoer because I think he's a smart coach. I don't want to come off like saying he can't do the job.
I'm just going to back off my lengthier explanation to say this. The jobs he got as a head coach were in better shape than a lot of people seem to realize. One was a national championship program he inherited from the coach, another was from Tedford due to health issues, the third came indirectly from Peterson who has always prioritized personal life and despite taking Washington to the playoffs and the like stepped away from the program. None of these were programs in actual trouble, much like when Saban retired, at worst they were some of the best programs in their conference built by one of the best coaches in their conference. They might have faltered a bit and needed a coach but he didn't have to right ships so much as sail them.
I think he's intelligent. I think he's capable of success, I think he can adjust. But this idea that he's built these amazing things from scratch and we just have to give him time isn't based on reality, it's based on hope. The issue is he's now sailing in uncharted territory, he has no previous SEC or really southeast experience, we haven't even seen a year 3 DeBoer team at the FBS level. He needs to adjust to the SEC and I for one hope he can.
Good to see some experience added to the line. They added some potential that's unproven earlier, this helps balance that.
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If the trenches play much better this year the sky is the limit.
He didn't take over from Chris Petersen. He took over from Jimmy Lake, who was in the process of running everything Petersen built, into the ground for 2 years. We saw with our own eyes that not just any coach can take over for Petersen and have success. The thing is, DeBoer had even more success than Petersen did there. Petersen never played in a natty, won a playoff game, or even went undefeated in the regular season. It's very clear that DeBoer is a top 10 coach in college football, and probably more like top 5.
I'm not understanding this narrative that he needs to adjust to the SEC. He just went 7-1 in SEC play, on a gauntlet that nobody else in the playoffs had to face. We were the highest SOS of any playoff team this season. The SEC hasn't really been the issue. Most of our issues have actually come outside of SEC play. He was the SEC regular season champion so it can't be anything to do with SEC.
I feel really good about the replacement pieces on defense, coupled with what we have returning. I see the Oline acquisitions as being very similar to the player type that departed possibly with greater potential. Are these guys a better fit? Are they more coachable? Guess we’ll find out.
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