JessN: DeBoer is building something: What it is, is the question

[JessN]

DeBoer is building something: What it is, is the question
by Jess Nicholas, TideFans.com Editor-In-Chief

When the spring transfer portal closed late April, Alabama stood alone, or at least in very rare company: No Crimson Tide player declared for the portal during its spring period.

For those who have followed the rocket-powered roller coaster that is college football roster management over the past few years, keeping a roster together – even if it turns out to be just for a few months – has become by far the exception to the chaos that rules the sport.

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DeBoer is building something: What it is, is the question

When the spring transfer portal closed late April, Alabama stood alone, or at least in very rare company: No Crimson Tide player declared for the portal during its spring period. For those who have…

news.tidefans.com

 

[CrimsonEyeshade]

Thoughtful. Thank you.

 

[4Q Basket Case]

The culture is clearly where DeBoer wants it to be. Jess's question of, "What is the culture?" is a good one. Right now, we don't know.

When DeBoer speaks publicly, it's circular coachspeak. Lots of words (or word salad), with little or no substance. You can't do that with the team and build any sort of culture. So I'm deadly curious as to what he says and how he says it when there are no cameras or reporters in the room.

Jess makes an interesting point that it would have been easy for any players who viewed Milroe as the face of the program and leader of the team to leave....but nobody did. Why?

There could be several reasons for that. It could be that another player is stepping in with similar personality to Milroe's, and they're following him. It could be that any players who followed Milroe either exhausted eligibility or transferred in the January window. It could be a lot of things.

My money is on the possibility that, in the wake of a disappointing season including inexplicable losses to Vandy and Oklahoma, the team as a whole realized that he wasn't the guy to follow. At least, not if you want on-field success and the opportunities that go along with it.

If that holds some water, it would make DeBoer's job of molding a team culture a lot easier.

I don't know. I have no inside information whatsoever. From the outside looking in, I'm just trying to figure out what makes sense.

 

[JustNeedMe81]

A culture based on accountability. Leadership. Communication.

 

[Slowpoke Catracho]

We'll find out August 30, 2025

 

[Ole Man Dan]

Things got better when Milroe left.
Guys who would have left changed their minds.
Running Backs see a better chance to strut their stuff.
Receivers see a chance to catch short to medium passes.
Not to bash Milroe, but the one man show is gone.

Sorry if this is contrary to your opinions, but it is my opinion.

 

[Rocky Mtn Bob]

What OMD posted.

RTR!

 

[GboyBama]

If we had dysfunction last year, it was a team dysfunction. We were somehow less than the sum of our parts, at one time or another, in just about every phase.

Until someone proves otherwise, I'm going with the easiest explanation for that. Transition. Upheaval. Chaos. These are poison to team chemistry.

Blaming all this on one player, who had his stock fall in equal proportion to the rest of the team's, feels like incomplete analysis to put it mildly.

 

[tusks_n_raider]

A culture based on accountability. Leadership. Communication.

That may or may not be the case going forward but it’s wait and see.

None of that was the case in 2024.

Multiple players should have faced suspensions and didn’t.

Accountability

An entire position group approached the HC with concerns and they were told to beat it and work out amongst themselves

Communication

One Captain threw a hissy fit vs Vandy and Another One gave 0 effort on a turnover vs OU

Leadership

I’m not saying things won’t get better but there is no evidence so far about those three areas being improved… yet.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

That may or may not be the case going forward but it’s wait and see.

None of that was the case in 2024.

Multiple players should have faced suspensions and didn’t.

Accountability

An entire position group approached the HC with concerns and they were told to beat it and work out amongst themselves

Communication

One Captain threw a hissy fit vs Vandy and Another One gave 0 effort on a turnover vs OU

Leadership

I’m not saying things won’t get better but there is no evidence so far about those three areas being improved… yet.

I know in Sabans first year he dealt with performance and behavioral issues. Some he handled right others he did not (DJ Hall). So I'm willing to give a wait and see approach. But as you, I wasn't pleased with a lot of what I saw last season wrt discipline.

 

[JessN]

If we had dysfunction last year, it was a team dysfunction. We were somehow less than the sum of our parts, at one time or another, in just about every phase.

Until someone proves otherwise, I'm going with the easiest explanation for that. Transition. Upheaval. Chaos. These are poison to team chemistry.

Blaming all this on one player, who had his stock fall in equal proportion to the rest of the team's, feels like incomplete analysis to put it mildly.

Prior to last season I mentioned that for SEC teams, the general rule is that you lose an extra game per year if you change either your offensive or defensive systems. We changed both.

In my mind, we were about a 10-2 team. With the "system change penalty" we would have been 8-4 in the regular season. We finished the regular season at 9-3, and the Georgia win (which was an upset in the final analysis) was what caused us to come out on the plus side of that.

Having said that, none of the losses were out of reach. We should have beaten Vanderbilt and Michigan. The Tennessee loss was another that felt like we gave it away at the end. The Oklahoma game was DeBoer's Louisiana-Monroe, even though Oklahoma was far better competition. We looked like we simply didn't care.

All of those things are common during changeover years when you're not going from the prior head coach (who was successful upon his exit) to an assistant from his staff. Had we had someone on the final Saban staff that was capable and ready -- time will tell about this, but I think Tommy Rees will be a good head coach one day; he probably wasn't ready for this opportunity right now, though -- we probably could have come out better than 9-4 in the end. But then the question would be whether the new guy was really the answer, or just a way to minimize the transitional damage.

I think Byrne chose the right path. Time will tell if he picked the right specific guy.

 

[4Q Basket Case]

That may or may not be the case going forward but it’s wait and see.

None of that was the case in 2024.

Multiple players should have faced suspensions and didn’t.

Accountability

An entire position group approached the HC with concerns and they were told to beat it and work out amongst themselves

Communication

One Captain threw a hissy fit vs Vandy and Another One gave 0 effort on a turnover vs OU

Leadership

I’m not saying things won’t get better but there is no evidence so far about those three areas being improved… yet.

Not disagreeing, just curious. What was the position group that was told to handle their issues themselves?

 

[Bamabuzzard]

Not disagreeing, just curious. What was the position group that was told to handle their issues themselves?

Wr

 

[Ledsteplin]

One thing is many of the current players were either recruited by DeBoer, or he brought them in as transfers. I think players like CKD a lot. They like playing for him. They also like the assistants. Then there is Courtney Morgan, who maintains great relationships with players. So I'm not sure if it's culture or people. If it's culture, I hope it's a winning culture.

 

[4Q Basket Case]

One thing is many of the current players were either recruited by DeBoer, or he brought them in as transfers. I think players like CKD a lot. They like playing for him. They also like the assistants. Then there is Courtney Morgan, who maintains great relationships with players. So I'm not sure if it's culture or people. If it's culture, I hope it's a winning culture.

One of the few upsides of the mass exodus after Saban retired -- when players could transfer out, but we couldn't raid other programs -- might be that it accelerates the time frame in which the new coach has his guys on the roster.

 

[dvldog]

“My money is on the possibility that, in the wake of a disappointing season including inexplicable losses to Vandy and Oklahoma, the team as a whole realized that he wasn't the guy to follow. At least, not if you want on-field success and the opportunities that go along with it.”

 

[CaliforniaTide]

Prior to last season I mentioned that for SEC teams, the general rule is that you lose an extra game per year if you change either your offensive or defensive systems. We changed both.

In my mind, we were about a 10-2 team. With the "system change penalty" we would have been 8-4 in the regular season. We finished the regular season at 9-3, and the Georgia win (which was an upset in the final analysis) was what caused us to come out on the plus side of that.

Having said that, none of the losses were out of reach. We should have beaten Vanderbilt and Michigan. The Tennessee loss was another that felt like we gave it away at the end. The Oklahoma game was DeBoer's Louisiana-Monroe, even though Oklahoma was far better competition. We looked like we simply didn't care.

All of those things are common during changeover years when you're not going from the prior head coach (who was successful upon his exit) to an assistant from his staff. Had we had someone on the final Saban staff that was capable and ready -- time will tell about this, but I think Tommy Rees will be a good head coach one day; he probably wasn't ready for this opportunity right now, though -- we probably could have come out better than 9-4 in the end. But then the question would be whether the new guy was really the answer, or just a way to minimize the transitional damage.

I think Byrne chose the right path. Time will tell if he picked the right specific guy.

I think this is a good summary of last season, and the article does a good job of where the program is right now. Any new HC is going to have a transition to make, especially in following the greatest HC in CFB. It is also accurate that we just don't know what the future looks like, especially in light of CKD's offensive history at other places. If he's truly a version of CNS-level expertise on offense, then I'd like to think that CKD could have similar success that CUM had at Florida.

I had fairly low expectations last season due to the changing of HCs. I am surprised that as of now, no Alabama players have transferred out. Unless rules are different, we'll have to see if any choose to transfer during the summer, after practices start. CKD seems to have made his point thus far with the team; I hope see increased team-wide growth this upcoming season.

 

[mlh]

CKD's record is 113-16 as a head coach...including a "disappointing" first year at Bama consisting of 9 wins.

He has won at every level and at every location where he has coached. I expect him to have success at Bama, as well.

I do think last year was an anomaly due to several factors that have been discussed ad nauseum.

I look forward to seeing what the team looks like in year 2 of the CKD era. I think we will be pleased with the product.

 

[Ledsteplin]

CKD's record is 113-16 as a head coach...including a "disappointing" first year at Bama consisting of 9 wins.

He has won at every level and at every location where he has coached. I expect him to have success at Bama, as well.

I do think last year was an anomaly due to several factors that have been discussed ad nauseum.

I look forward to seeing what the team looks like in year 2 of the CKD era. I think we will be pleased with the product.

A good showing in the playoff will go a long way in recruiting.

 

[mlh]

A good showing in the playoff will go a long way in recruiting.

I feel like year 3 will give us the truest picture of what we can expect long-term. We will be fully entrenched in CKD's program and the players will have adjusted to his coaching style. By then the majority, if not all, of CNS's recruits will be gone. We will also be 2 more years into the NIL debacle - and who knows what will happen with that - but I think it will be pretty well worked out by then. Obviously, what we have now is not sustainable.

I know we're an impatient fan base and many will not want to give him 3 years but I think that's the best course, barring some kind of epic meltdown that brings the program to its knees. And I don't see that happening.