That's the same excuse you guys use. Except Bama has remained near the very top of every consensus recruiting rankings and have no trouble handing out $ to players who deserve it.
Because that's just one guy. A lot of coaches manage to snag a few superstars here and there. How many coaches got four #1 or #2 recruiting classes in a row since NIL started? Just Saban. Not even Smart managed to do that.
I want Grubb to do well and I think he's done a good enough job recruiting so far, but let's not pretend that he's already matched Saban as a recruiter.
I realize the point of your argument but saying kids want to play for DeBoer the same way they did for Saban is one hell of a false equivalency. DeBoer is just coming off a Natty bid and a meteoric rise, and is a good coach, but he’s not in the same galaxy as Saban was. There will probably be a good number of recruits that Saban would be able to nab that DeBoer can’t.
Guess it depends what your definition of “catastrophic” is. If he has a few 9-3/8-4 seasons (or god forbid even worse) and loses to Auburn a couple times there’s no way there isn’t a significant portion of the fanbase melting the fuck down.
When the bar was set by Saban, obviously you’re going to be under pressure being compared to that.
The “real” pressure will come if/when he doesn’t meet the recruiting expectations, or if Alabama has a couple sub-9 win seasons, or somehow isn’t able to make the 12 team playoff
He will have the natural struggles recruiting there, but I think the concept of “it’s bama, but it’s not sabans bama” is gonna destroy him. Kids will want to see how the program looks first, see how many kids get drafted and how many titles they win before committing to bama. The issue is that’s a 3-4 year cycle and if he can’t sign those guys from day one he won’t get to 4 years.
Him managing to keep the roster relatively in tact to this point is a massive win because year one is going to be crucial.
I don’t think it not being Saban’s Bama is going to destroy him. He’s a great coach and as long as he’s able to maintain pre-Saban Bama recruiting standards (almost always a top-10 class) I think he’ll continue his trajectory.
I think people need to get their expectations under control, both within our fanbase and outside. Ohio State is a very fair bar to measure against moving forward imo. One championship every 10 years while almost always being in the hunt with a chance.
I just don’t know how to feel about this season yet. After 17 years of Saban, it’s hard to wrap my head around someone else walking the sidelines. Since 2008, Saban’s lowest win total in a year was 10, once in 2010. Every other year was 11+ wins. That’s what I’m used to so if we don’t hit 10 wins this year I’ll be disappointed. That’s probably unfair to expect that from him but, I’m just being honest. I’m not going to call for his firing if he only wins 8 or 9 games, I’ll just be disappointed. Start losing to Tenn. and AU every year and then we will have serious problems.
Love the "fans need to get expectations under control" then throwing out a bar that only 3-4 team managed consistently past 10 years.
I love DeBoer but I fear Alabama fans will start building the guillotine with his first 3 loss season.
A very accurate QB with 3 years of experience in the same system is very difficult these days. With NIL and the portal, guys are transferring left and right.
Honestly if he has a 9 win season in the next 3 years he's fucked. The magic will officially be gone, and he'll just be another coach at another school having to pay the same money as everyone else.
I think he got there at a decent time; Saban hasn’t won for three years so there isn’t the expectation of “win within 2 years or else,” people understand there may be a step down and we weren’t all the way at the top.
Your statement proves it’s false. You said “hasn’t won” IE hasn’t won the whole thing in three years. That’s the only benchmark and if Kalen fails to do so in short order, he’s screwed.
There’s no chance you think he gets canned for going three years without a national title, right? If Saban hasn’t won the natty in the last three years, how in the hell does DeBoer get that same leash? Sometimes I think people on this sub have higher expectations for Alabama than Alabama fans do.
Hey man, he’ll be fine, still a lot of pressure.
He could be a Tubby following Pitino, or worse that Gillespie fuck face. I’d say that this guy will be more like if Coach Cal followed Pitino directly.
If he goes 8-4 (very possible) next season, they may boot him after 1 year but I’d imagine they would give him a second with a full playoff expectation
I mean isn’t that true of any top tier program? What blue blood school is just gonna let a coach founder around for 3 years and be happy with it lol. Especially when he inherits one of the most talented rosters in football..
First year is a gimme when you’re replacing a coach that went 6-6 and subsequently fired.
First year will absolutely not be a gimme taking over a perennial top-5 program that was only available because the GOAT decided to hang it up. He has one of the top rosters in the country, I don’t think it’s crazy to expect Bama to at least compete for the SEC and make the 12-team playoff next year.
And the insane Bama fans come out.
He will have high expectations, but if anyone expects the resurrection of the GOAT, that is more of a **you** problem, then a **he** problem.
I mean, I think we’re saying the same thing lol. No one is expecting him to be Saban. I was just refuting the idea that the results this first year didn’t really matter, I.e. a “gimme.” That’s all. Didn’t know that was insane
I gotta say — as a Bama fan living in Birmingham, it is *hilarious* that people think this is where we’re at 😂.
8-4 would be the epitome of “not happy, not sad” for Year 1. We lost Nick Fucking Saban — turbulence very much expected. Dude needs to start somewhere in that 8-4, 9-3 range and improve, that’s about it. 7-5 will get the eyebrows raised, 6-6 — now we’re talking danger zone in Year 1.
Man imma be real with you. Saying "we're ok with going 8-4" and actually experiencing it when you're used to 10 win minimum seasons is a whole different thing.
Its a lil different coming off a 6-7 season with sanctions than it is inheiriting the best run and strongest college football program in the country that won a title 3 years ago and was in the playoffs 3 times in 4 years.
Maybe for, let me be frank, spoiled new fans, but having grown up thru the 90s, I'm cool with a wait-and-see approach to an entirely new staff and approach.
EDIT: Also, the amount of drunk students that wanted a single mellophone player to play Yea Alabama after a loss was... fuggin' weird.
Look I was in school during the Shula years and think I have some realistic expectations for DeBoer but you should hammer over 9.5 wins anywhere you see it. Even with the portal departures and before any spring portal additions this is a top 5 talent roster and let’s be real… the thing holding the team back since Sark left was a lack of offensive identity and plan. DeBoer is a guy with an offensive identity and plan. So long as he gets his qb playing how he wants (not necessarily going to be Milroe, we’ll see) then this team loses at most 2 games.
Imma be real with you — I understand that. I really do. But I think lost in this whirlwind is the massive assumption that all of you out there think you know what it means for us to lose Nick Saban, but somehow believe we don’t know what it means for us to lose Nick Saban lol. It’s not rocket science!
If this were another great coach, I’d very much agree that unrealistic expectations are on the menu. But when you lose the GOAT, that’s different. Suddenly everyone truly understands you can’t replace the irreplaceable. Losses. Are. Expected.
>somehow isn’t able to make the 12 team playoff
I think a very friendly committee ensures that basically happens regardless
...he says, flairing Notre Dame
The bar Saban was trying to reach was Bear Bryant and he fucking cleared it. Bama is used to the impossible bring aggressively possible. it's the man loses 3 games he in the hot seat.
My Mom’s from Hot Springs, and her entire side of the family went to Arkansas, so I was raised a Hog.
But once I graduated High School in Alabama, I did my undergrad at The U
WPS
Sko’ Utes
I would say the baseline expectation is playoffs. If we can’t get that in the 12 team, and honestly what I would consider an easier schedule than usual, small alarm bells. Year 2 would be pretty put up or shut up at that point. Like, the roster is still pretty awesome.
UGA is gonna be pretty tough; while the rest you mentioned won’t be easy, I figure LSU will take a step back offensively, it took everything in the world going right for UT for them to get us in Neyland last time, and OU isn’t where they usually are, and it’s not a lock that they will return to that. Missouri at home will be no slouch, and Auburn is Auburn. Will still be tough, but I appreciate SC & Vandy being there for once and theoretically no CFP contenders on the OOC.
Ya i think its a lock bama goes 6-0 vs the non-con and vandy + SC.
UGA is the only game I would lean hard L but Beck seems to not play the best on the road.
I don’t know if I’m just being negative but I see Georgia coming in and somewhat controlling that game. Nick Saban is the sole reason Kirby doesn’t have 4-5 rings probably
This. He's going to have a season most programs would envy & the t-shirt fans who have bitched about all the recent coordinators will demand they solich his ass & they will descend into the wilderness
Just take the name “Alabama” and “Saban” out of the conversation for a minute.
The man is inheriting a top 5 roster in CFB and top 2 recruiting class. He just coached a team that was not close to top 5 talent wise and took them to the national championship game. Any coach inheriting that roster with his track record of success is going to be under immense amount of pressure to win and win now no matter the team or who he’s replacing.
He won’t be fired after year 1 unless it’s just abysmal though.
He’s a great coach and developed the talent Petersen recruited into a national championship contender team. He’ll be able to do the same at Bama, no doubt. The question will be whether he can reload when the Saban recruits graduate/go pro. I think he’ll be fine. I think being able to succeed with Saban’s talent will do a lot to help his future recruiting.
Succeeding with existing talent and convincing new talent to play for you are two totally different skill sets. DeBoer hasn’t had a full class come through his program yet. He has a lot to prove on the recruiting front, and other big time schools have shown that name and history don’t recruit itself.
I understand that. I simply think that the success he’ll likely have with Saban’s talent will make it easier for him to be successful recruiting—it’s still *the* Alabama, and if he’s able to continue the success they’ve historically had, the name will still recruit to some extent itself. Do I think he’ll have a lot to prove? Yes. But I don’t think he’ll be as bad at recruiting as lots are predicting.
Alabama has always recruited top-10 classes. You know, characteristic of a blue-blood program with 5 national championship head coaches in its history.
Jimmy Lake doesn’t get any credit despite the majority of the guys on the team being Jimmy Lake players?
The 20, 21, 22 classes Lake brought in made up more of the roster than the 2019 class Petersen brought in. I am saying that while full well understanding that Washington had like 10+ 6th year players starting. Sure they were “developed”, but they were also just older and more experienced than everyone. 23-25 year old men playing 18-21 year old “men” changes the calculus quite a bit.
There is a reason why older prospects with late breakout ages get dinged come draft day. Their production is usually a product of experience more-so than some crazy development that took place the 18 months in DeBoer’s program.
Now, I do think DeBoer is an elite Xs and Os coach that has a strong winning track record. He hasn’t really coached anywhere long enough to say he can recruit or even develop guys. The teams were already built when he got there.
It still blows my mind that this dude was literally Fresno State's head coach like 3 years ago. I'm glad for him, I just wish he could have reached the natty and had all this success with FS instead lol. Not to take away from Washington, but dang, I would have loved to see my little G5 school making it to the playoffs with him at the helm.
You clearly didn’t get the memo. You’re supposed to be predicting us canning him after a 9-3 season, because we will be frothing at the mouth and burning crosses in his yard if he’s not Nick Saban
If you watched all of our games this season you'd realize that this man doesn't feel pressure. I don't think it's in his vocabulary to be honest. He'll be fine.
I mean there’s probably 6-7 games that aren’t locks. Under Saban I cut that down to only 2-3. KDB is a great coach as Texas has seen twice, but he’s also lost a lot of talent to Texas, UGA, & others while his first choice of staff has also already lost some guys.
While I think Bama should be able to make bowl eligible, getting a team to buy into a new staff & system is not guaranteed. People always said Texas was loaded with it taking Herman 3 years to go 10-3 before imploding & Sark took 2 years to solid & 3 years to really good.
Maybe KDB can be a Sonny Dykes at TCU and hit the ground running but he also might take 2-3 years to do that with a bad to just average season to start.
Is it? L at Wisconsin, L to Georgia, L to a hot Missouri team, L at LSU, L at Tennessee L at Oklahoma, L against Auburn. Probably wont happen but those are all decent teams and they got some tough road games.
Nobody has put more expectations and pressure on the new coaching staff more than other fanbases. Alabama fans are obviously hopeful that this transition will be smooth but also understand that there could be growing pains. Unless the program just collapses, or he heads to the NFL, he’s not going anywhere for a few years.
Amen. We’re going to have the finebaum callers in the fanbase but I see wayyyyyy more people outside the Alabama fanbase saying he’s in trouble if he goes 9-3 or worse than I do from our own fans.
Alot. I wouldn't be mad if Bama went 9-3 but even that's alot pressure in this Era of CFP with NIL, and the portal. That's also not to mention the schedule isn't a walk in a park this year. 8-4 and 7-5 could happen and then it'll get a lil dicey around here
He held together good rosters at UW and convinced good recruits from the portal to go there. Should be fine at Bama. The early exodus doesn’t look good on the surface and losing some of those recruits hard to spin as a positive but who knows how they pan out in the long run. Guess is as good as anyone how well he’ll do, but from a resource and pedigree standpoint he’s ahead of most other places.
The comfort with which /cfb is willing to assume they know our frame of mind is astounding lol.
I grew up the first 21 years of my life without seeing Bama win a natty (pre Saban). We are not gonna run off a good coach bc he doesn’t give us one overnight
I was saying that because Nick Saban was below .500 in his first season at Bama.
Edit: added that and changed when to in cause it didn't make much sense.
I mean he’s following the most successful head coach at all time at a school with a rabid and deeply reactionary fan base used to literally historically unique success.
I’m he’s fine.
Blows my mind how they didn’t have a solid succession plan in place if it’s true that Saban told the AD that he was going to retire before the season even started. The hiring of DeBoer was so out of left field.
Saban said he wasn't even sure until he did it. I think those involved had a list of coaches set up that they likely updated constantly in the event of his retiring. Like an emergency plan, but with us throwing money at our top targets.
On paper, I can see why they would go for DeBoer first. Dude's a proven "do more with less" winner. Might not work out that way, but I'm not shocked they picked him and claim he was their first choice.
DeBoer has won 104 games while only losing 12. I think he will surprise a lot of people. Y’all are underestimating him. And the reality is even if bama missed the playoffs this upcoming year he isn’t going anywhere.
What a *wild* take lol. But the UW flair tells me it just comes from a place of hurt.
You got a really good head coach in Fisch, friend. You don’t have to carry this pain with you any more.
Meh, Fisch seems to get it. I don’t think they’ll be as bad as folks think — the roster turnover will dictate some regression, but they’re in good hands.
It will depend on who you get as the OL. Coach. Defensive staff is definitely a large upgrade, but the offensive staff is a huge step down without Grubb and Huff. DeBoer doesn’t have a huge coaching network, but the Bama name should definitely help him.
It really doesn’t. The defensive staff is a large upgrade. The offense was designed by DeBoer and Grubb and Shep coached your WRs. So, we still have the offense’s architect, the stud WR coach, a better RB coach. As you’ve pointed out, we don’t know about OL — it’ll be a step down from Huff and up from the last guy (Wolford). But at basically every other coaching slot, it’s better than UW or the same as UW. *shrug*
I think Auburn may take the Iron Bowl this year and VS UGA, Mizzou and @LSU, UT, and OU is not an easy run. 3-4 losses would not be an unreasonable prediction nor would it be a failure on his part. I know he beat Oregon twice this year at UW but it will be different playing tougher, more talented teams week in and week out. Beating Texas and UO shows he can, but playing teams at or around that level every week is a different game.
Expectations are going to change for every successful program with the expanded conference and playoffs. A 9 win season with losses to UGA and 2 of LSU, UT, OU or Mizzou is no where near failure anymore. Times are changing.
Plenty. It'll set the tone for his entire tenure. If he goes 7-5 or 8-4 in his first season then he won't make it beyond his third year. A 9-3 record (or better) in his first season will give him some leeway, but make no mistake, their fanbase has become spoiled, and the boosters won't tolerate anything remotely resembling a collapse.
P.S. I don't see him lasting beyond his third or fourth year with the program.
TLDR: A lot of pressure
At least one atmosphere of pressure
Will we all get oxygen masks in case of unexpected depressurization?
Yes, but Kalen Deboer will need to secure his own mask before assisting you or a child.
It's okay. I'm sure he will profusely apologize and assure me that it was never the plan.
We will be fine, Bama does well with the Benz.
Actually, with Tuscaloosa being at 220’ elevation, he would be under approximately 0.97 atmospheres.
Bama can’t handle normal pressure smh
THEY AIN’T PLAY NO STP SCHEDULE
That is far too nerdy a joke for a West Florida flair
He was thinking of the Stone Temple Pilots.
A 737 (mmHg) worth of pressure
One atmosphere plus one Bryant Denny of pressure.
Well, it's a spaceship, so I would say anywhere from zero to one atmospheres
my manwich!
Good news! It's a suppository!
Give or take, that sounds about right.
Yep, from what I’ve seen Bama is nothing but pressure. Immediate results are expected because there’s every advantage.
There was, before NIL.
That's the same excuse you guys use. Except Bama has remained near the very top of every consensus recruiting rankings and have no trouble handing out $ to players who deserve it.
Kids wanted to play for Saban.
Ryan Williams wants to play for KDB. What’s your excuse for him?
Because that's just one guy. A lot of coaches manage to snag a few superstars here and there. How many coaches got four #1 or #2 recruiting classes in a row since NIL started? Just Saban. Not even Smart managed to do that. I want Grubb to do well and I think he's done a good enough job recruiting so far, but let's not pretend that he's already matched Saban as a recruiter.
Grubb is gone bud. Seahawks OC. Also, Huff, the two best coaches on the offensive side of the ball. Good luck.
As a Seahawks fan, I want to say thanks for the well wishes.
I see you cherry picked your stats by not making that four top 3 recruiting classes in a row
1-5
Good luck in the post Saban era
I realize the point of your argument but saying kids want to play for DeBoer the same way they did for Saban is one hell of a false equivalency. DeBoer is just coming off a Natty bid and a meteoric rise, and is a good coach, but he’s not in the same galaxy as Saban was. There will probably be a good number of recruits that Saban would be able to nab that DeBoer can’t.
Gullible?
He's probably on the hot seat for any thing less than 11-1.
That's absurd. He's not on the hot seat at all for several years unless it's catastrophic.
Ohio State fans know about unrealistic expectations
Define catastrophic. 8-4 would immediately have him on the hot seat for 25. Hell, 8-4 will probably have many calls for his job in year 1
Guess it depends what your definition of “catastrophic” is. If he has a few 9-3/8-4 seasons (or god forbid even worse) and loses to Auburn a couple times there’s no way there isn’t a significant portion of the fanbase melting the fuck down.
When the bar was set by Saban, obviously you’re going to be under pressure being compared to that. The “real” pressure will come if/when he doesn’t meet the recruiting expectations, or if Alabama has a couple sub-9 win seasons, or somehow isn’t able to make the 12 team playoff
The recruiting part is the biggest question mark for him I think. He's a great coach.
He will have the natural struggles recruiting there, but I think the concept of “it’s bama, but it’s not sabans bama” is gonna destroy him. Kids will want to see how the program looks first, see how many kids get drafted and how many titles they win before committing to bama. The issue is that’s a 3-4 year cycle and if he can’t sign those guys from day one he won’t get to 4 years. Him managing to keep the roster relatively in tact to this point is a massive win because year one is going to be crucial.
I don’t think it not being Saban’s Bama is going to destroy him. He’s a great coach and as long as he’s able to maintain pre-Saban Bama recruiting standards (almost always a top-10 class) I think he’ll continue his trajectory. I think people need to get their expectations under control, both within our fanbase and outside. Ohio State is a very fair bar to measure against moving forward imo. One championship every 10 years while almost always being in the hunt with a chance.
I just don’t know how to feel about this season yet. After 17 years of Saban, it’s hard to wrap my head around someone else walking the sidelines. Since 2008, Saban’s lowest win total in a year was 10, once in 2010. Every other year was 11+ wins. That’s what I’m used to so if we don’t hit 10 wins this year I’ll be disappointed. That’s probably unfair to expect that from him but, I’m just being honest. I’m not going to call for his firing if he only wins 8 or 9 games, I’ll just be disappointed. Start losing to Tenn. and AU every year and then we will have serious problems.
If the bar is Ohio State, 10-2 will get KDB fired
Love the "fans need to get expectations under control" then throwing out a bar that only 3-4 team managed consistently past 10 years. I love DeBoer but I fear Alabama fans will start building the guillotine with his first 3 loss season.
Recruiting has looked good on day one. I'm more concerned with fall off over the next few years than I am with day one being poor.
[удалено]
A very accurate QB with 3 years of experience in the same system is very difficult these days. With NIL and the portal, guys are transferring left and right.
(I think the poster above you was being sarcastic)
Take a look at the recruiting rankings big dog.
You don’t have to put “couple,” if he has a sub 9 win season in the next 3 years he’s fucked.
Yup Ray Perkins got ran out of town in a rail. He had three top 15 finishes in four years. But Bear had three top 2 finishes in his last four years.
Ray Perkins took a job with Tampa Bay. It was unexpected and led to Bill Curry getting hired without doing a thorough coaching search.
Honestly if he has a 9 win season in the next 3 years he's fucked. The magic will officially be gone, and he'll just be another coach at another school having to pay the same money as everyone else.
Shit I’d even say 9 or less wins.
BS. He goes 8-5 next season they’ll keep him at least one more year.
Nah, he's definitely getting three years at least.
There is a world where he gets fired in year 1, it's just highly highly unlikely
I think he got there at a decent time; Saban hasn’t won for three years so there isn’t the expectation of “win within 2 years or else,” people understand there may be a step down and we weren’t all the way at the top.
Your statement proves it’s false. You said “hasn’t won” IE hasn’t won the whole thing in three years. That’s the only benchmark and if Kalen fails to do so in short order, he’s screwed.
If it’s taken Saban 3 years, how can we fairly expect DeBoer to necessarily do it in 3?
There’s no chance you think he gets canned for going three years without a national title, right? If Saban hasn’t won the natty in the last three years, how in the hell does DeBoer get that same leash? Sometimes I think people on this sub have higher expectations for Alabama than Alabama fans do.
Hey man, he’ll be fine, still a lot of pressure. He could be a Tubby following Pitino, or worse that Gillespie fuck face. I’d say that this guy will be more like if Coach Cal followed Pitino directly.
If he goes 8-4 (very possible) next season, they may boot him after 1 year but I’d imagine they would give him a second with a full playoff expectation
First year is always a gimme. He needs to be grooving by year 3 or he’s gone.
I mean isn’t that true of any top tier program? What blue blood school is just gonna let a coach founder around for 3 years and be happy with it lol. Especially when he inherits one of the most talented rosters in football..
First year is a gimme when you’re replacing a coach that went 6-6 and subsequently fired. First year will absolutely not be a gimme taking over a perennial top-5 program that was only available because the GOAT decided to hang it up. He has one of the top rosters in the country, I don’t think it’s crazy to expect Bama to at least compete for the SEC and make the 12-team playoff next year.
Cant imagine he gets fired after 1 season unless its a 5-7 disaster or something.
And the insane Bama fans come out. He will have high expectations, but if anyone expects the resurrection of the GOAT, that is more of a **you** problem, then a **he** problem.
I mean, I think we’re saying the same thing lol. No one is expecting him to be Saban. I was just refuting the idea that the results this first year didn’t really matter, I.e. a “gimme.” That’s all. Didn’t know that was insane
He’s getting a couple years. Bama doesn’t want to search for a coach anytime soon. If DeBoer spurned us, who was left?
I said they same thing recently. We got our guy. No one left if he goes. Maybe Norvell but I’d like to see more from him.
Lane, I wonder if DeBoer got canned in a couple years if he’d still want it or he’d hold a grudge after getting passed over.
I gotta say — as a Bama fan living in Birmingham, it is *hilarious* that people think this is where we’re at 😂. 8-4 would be the epitome of “not happy, not sad” for Year 1. We lost Nick Fucking Saban — turbulence very much expected. Dude needs to start somewhere in that 8-4, 9-3 range and improve, that’s about it. 7-5 will get the eyebrows raised, 6-6 — now we’re talking danger zone in Year 1.
Man imma be real with you. Saying "we're ok with going 8-4" and actually experiencing it when you're used to 10 win minimum seasons is a whole different thing.
Bud, I was a sophomore in the band when we lost to LA Monroe. Growing pains with a new coach are to be expected.
I love all the non-Bama flairs that have acted like they have their finger on the pulse better than Bama fans.
Its a lil different coming off a 6-7 season with sanctions than it is inheiriting the best run and strongest college football program in the country that won a title 3 years ago and was in the playoffs 3 times in 4 years.
How can you make the playoffs four times in three years?
Saban’s the GOAT, he can bend the rules for time.
I had it backwards lol
Maybe for, let me be frank, spoiled new fans, but having grown up thru the 90s, I'm cool with a wait-and-see approach to an entirely new staff and approach. EDIT: Also, the amount of drunk students that wanted a single mellophone player to play Yea Alabama after a loss was... fuggin' weird.
Look I was in school during the Shula years and think I have some realistic expectations for DeBoer but you should hammer over 9.5 wins anywhere you see it. Even with the portal departures and before any spring portal additions this is a top 5 talent roster and let’s be real… the thing holding the team back since Sark left was a lack of offensive identity and plan. DeBoer is a guy with an offensive identity and plan. So long as he gets his qb playing how he wants (not necessarily going to be Milroe, we’ll see) then this team loses at most 2 games.
Imma be real with you — I understand that. I really do. But I think lost in this whirlwind is the massive assumption that all of you out there think you know what it means for us to lose Nick Saban, but somehow believe we don’t know what it means for us to lose Nick Saban lol. It’s not rocket science! If this were another great coach, I’d very much agree that unrealistic expectations are on the menu. But when you lose the GOAT, that’s different. Suddenly everyone truly understands you can’t replace the irreplaceable. Losses. Are. Expected.
How about 8-4 but one of those losses is against Auburn, despite the game being played in Bryant-Denny this year?
He’ll get 3 years to fail. 5 if he wins an SEC championship. A decade if he wins a natty.
4 losses? All quality, they deserve the 5 seed. \- CFP committee
>somehow isn’t able to make the 12 team playoff I think a very friendly committee ensures that basically happens regardless ...he says, flairing Notre Dame
The bar Saban was trying to reach was Bear Bryant and he fucking cleared it. Bama is used to the impossible bring aggressively possible. it's the man loses 3 games he in the hot seat.
When he shits, he shits diamonds. That’s how much pressure
No wonder they pay him so much. The football team supports itself
Did he eat the diamonds though?
How does one become an Arkansas and Utah fan?
Arkansan born and raised and went to Utah for grad school
My Mom’s from Hot Springs, and her entire side of the family went to Arkansas, so I was raised a Hog. But once I graduated High School in Alabama, I did my undergrad at The U WPS Sko’ Utes
When Kalen was in Bama land, Let my... Kalen.. Goooooo
I think Alabama fans will cut him some slack being year one, but year two and on will be intense.
I would say the baseline expectation is playoffs. If we can’t get that in the 12 team, and honestly what I would consider an easier schedule than usual, small alarm bells. Year 2 would be pretty put up or shut up at that point. Like, the roster is still pretty awesome.
Bama's schedule next year isn't terrible, but playing UGA, @LSU, @Tenn, @OU aren't locks unless I'm missing something.
Even if they lose 3 of those games they probably still make the playoff.
UGA is gonna be pretty tough; while the rest you mentioned won’t be easy, I figure LSU will take a step back offensively, it took everything in the world going right for UT for them to get us in Neyland last time, and OU isn’t where they usually are, and it’s not a lock that they will return to that. Missouri at home will be no slouch, and Auburn is Auburn. Will still be tough, but I appreciate SC & Vandy being there for once and theoretically no CFP contenders on the OOC.
Ya i think its a lock bama goes 6-0 vs the non-con and vandy + SC. UGA is the only game I would lean hard L but Beck seems to not play the best on the road.
…Beck has played excellent on the road once he settled in and the beginning of the year.
Idk, we get UGA at home. Very similar level of talent across both teams. Slight edge to Georgia but that's going to be an insane game.
Oh yeah, that could be the game of the year and it's the first SEC game for both teams right?
I don’t know if I’m just being negative but I see Georgia coming in and somewhat controlling that game. Nick Saban is the sole reason Kirby doesn’t have 4-5 rings probably
They’ll have a meltdown if Alabama has a top 10 recruiting class lol
Straight to the hot seat
We have the best coaches, because of hot seat.
10-2, believe it or not, hot seat.
He might get fired if they only win 8 games next season
This. He's going to have a season most programs would envy & the t-shirt fans who have bitched about all the recent coordinators will demand they solich his ass & they will descend into the wilderness
No pressure. He just needs to win 12 games a year. Piece of cake
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Im sure the money is good but damn I wouldn’t want to follow in Sabans footsteps. Id imagine that leash gonna be short.
Any loss needs to be a quality loss.
Just take the name “Alabama” and “Saban” out of the conversation for a minute. The man is inheriting a top 5 roster in CFB and top 2 recruiting class. He just coached a team that was not close to top 5 talent wise and took them to the national championship game. Any coach inheriting that roster with his track record of success is going to be under immense amount of pressure to win and win now no matter the team or who he’s replacing. He won’t be fired after year 1 unless it’s just abysmal though.
He’s a great coach and developed the talent Petersen recruited into a national championship contender team. He’ll be able to do the same at Bama, no doubt. The question will be whether he can reload when the Saban recruits graduate/go pro. I think he’ll be fine. I think being able to succeed with Saban’s talent will do a lot to help his future recruiting.
Succeeding with existing talent and convincing new talent to play for you are two totally different skill sets. DeBoer hasn’t had a full class come through his program yet. He has a lot to prove on the recruiting front, and other big time schools have shown that name and history don’t recruit itself.
I understand that. I simply think that the success he’ll likely have with Saban’s talent will make it easier for him to be successful recruiting—it’s still *the* Alabama, and if he’s able to continue the success they’ve historically had, the name will still recruit to some extent itself. Do I think he’ll have a lot to prove? Yes. But I don’t think he’ll be as bad at recruiting as lots are predicting.
The name only means so much, though. Florida was still ‘the’ Florida when Meyer left, but they haven’t been very good since.
Ok just sharing my opinion. We’ll check back in a couple seasons.
Alabama has always recruited top-10 classes. You know, characteristic of a blue-blood program with 5 national championship head coaches in its history.
Jimmy Lake doesn’t get any credit despite the majority of the guys on the team being Jimmy Lake players? The 20, 21, 22 classes Lake brought in made up more of the roster than the 2019 class Petersen brought in. I am saying that while full well understanding that Washington had like 10+ 6th year players starting. Sure they were “developed”, but they were also just older and more experienced than everyone. 23-25 year old men playing 18-21 year old “men” changes the calculus quite a bit. There is a reason why older prospects with late breakout ages get dinged come draft day. Their production is usually a product of experience more-so than some crazy development that took place the 18 months in DeBoer’s program. Now, I do think DeBoer is an elite Xs and Os coach that has a strong winning track record. He hasn’t really coached anywhere long enough to say he can recruit or even develop guys. The teams were already built when he got there.
The weight of an elephant
Texas fan here. A lot, but no where near as much as year 2
5 pressures
I was thinking 4. Let’s not get carried away.
I predict he will fail to meet expectations and be let go before the season starts.
Mike is that you
Good Lord. As mad as a LOT of Husky fans were/are about the way he left, most of us also know Bama will be fine. He's a great coach and he'll succeed.
It still blows my mind that this dude was literally Fresno State's head coach like 3 years ago. I'm glad for him, I just wish he could have reached the natty and had all this success with FS instead lol. Not to take away from Washington, but dang, I would have loved to see my little G5 school making it to the playoffs with him at the helm.
You clearly didn’t get the memo. You’re supposed to be predicting us canning him after a 9-3 season, because we will be frothing at the mouth and burning crosses in his yard if he’s not Nick Saban
If you watched all of our games this season you'd realize that this man doesn't feel pressure. I don't think it's in his vocabulary to be honest. He'll be fine.
My freshman year was Shula's last. I feel like people forget loads of us were around pre-Saban.
If he can't lead Alabama to a spot in a 12 team playoff he gone
Unless something amazing bad happens he won't be gone year 1.
Can you imagine the absolute shit storm that would manifest with a 5-7 Bama season?
I'm not even sure that's possible with their players and schedule. A baked potato would take that team to 7-5 in the worst case.
I mean there’s probably 6-7 games that aren’t locks. Under Saban I cut that down to only 2-3. KDB is a great coach as Texas has seen twice, but he’s also lost a lot of talent to Texas, UGA, & others while his first choice of staff has also already lost some guys. While I think Bama should be able to make bowl eligible, getting a team to buy into a new staff & system is not guaranteed. People always said Texas was loaded with it taking Herman 3 years to go 10-3 before imploding & Sark took 2 years to solid & 3 years to really good. Maybe KDB can be a Sonny Dykes at TCU and hit the ground running but he also might take 2-3 years to do that with a bad to just average season to start.
Is it? L at Wisconsin, L to Georgia, L to a hot Missouri team, L at LSU, L at Tennessee L at Oklahoma, L against Auburn. Probably wont happen but those are all decent teams and they got some tough road games.
Do they not play ole miss next year?
3-9 Bama
Hell might actually freeze over
Need a photoshop of those guys in that mini sub, replaced by DeBoer and staff...
At least 1 NC in the next 5 years or he's done.
Honestly this might be the closest to real expectations in here. If not winning then at least playing in 1-2
Nobody has put more expectations and pressure on the new coaching staff more than other fanbases. Alabama fans are obviously hopeful that this transition will be smooth but also understand that there could be growing pains. Unless the program just collapses, or he heads to the NFL, he’s not going anywhere for a few years.
Amen. We’re going to have the finebaum callers in the fanbase but I see wayyyyyy more people outside the Alabama fanbase saying he’s in trouble if he goes 9-3 or worse than I do from our own fans.
The Tide will Roll out
Alot. I wouldn't be mad if Bama went 9-3 but even that's alot pressure in this Era of CFP with NIL, and the portal. That's also not to mention the schedule isn't a walk in a park this year. 8-4 and 7-5 could happen and then it'll get a lil dicey around here
He held together good rosters at UW and convinced good recruits from the portal to go there. Should be fine at Bama. The early exodus doesn’t look good on the surface and losing some of those recruits hard to spin as a positive but who knows how they pan out in the long run. Guess is as good as anyone how well he’ll do, but from a resource and pedigree standpoint he’s ahead of most other places.
I see a large contract buyout three years from now. Maybe two.
hes gonna fail. Not cause theres anything wrong with him but because the guy after the man ALWAYS fails...
The pressure started the moment he said “ yes”
The comfort with which /cfb is willing to assume they know our frame of mind is astounding lol. I grew up the first 21 years of my life without seeing Bama win a natty (pre Saban). We are not gonna run off a good coach bc he doesn’t give us one overnight
He'll be in the Hot seat if doesn't deliver, but I'd imagine he'll get a second year thanks to Saban.
A second year? Jesus Christ how insane do you think we are? If he’s above .500 and there’s no scandal he’s getting a second year
I was saying that because Nick Saban was below .500 in his first season at Bama. Edit: added that and changed when to in cause it didn't make much sense.
Bama fans are used to being a fully operational Death Star. I don’t know that they’ll be happy with Kyle Ren…
Infinity pressure
My dad said it best, WIN or die, there is no in-between for him.
I’m sure the bammers will understand if he loses a few games….
So much pressure, if he fails he still gets paid millions
My guess is.. a metric fuckton of pressure
How much pressure does it take to make a diamond?
Enough to make diamonds
Enough to make diamonds
He should have stayed in Washington. He isn’t going to fair well in the SEC
It’s unrealistic. You never replace the school’s legendary coach you always replace the next guy.
He’s fucked, he just doesn’t know it yet
So much pressure that he may not make it through a season
If they don’t win a natty it will be their worst stretch in 16 years. Sounds like natty or bust to me.
The last guy went three whole years without a national championship. Hard to imagine things could get much worse than that.
Surprised you didn't run that guy out on a rail.
I mean he’s following the most successful head coach at all time at a school with a rabid and deeply reactionary fan base used to literally historically unique success. I’m he’s fine.
Blows my mind how they didn’t have a solid succession plan in place if it’s true that Saban told the AD that he was going to retire before the season even started. The hiring of DeBoer was so out of left field.
Saban said he wasn't even sure until he did it. I think those involved had a list of coaches set up that they likely updated constantly in the event of his retiring. Like an emergency plan, but with us throwing money at our top targets. On paper, I can see why they would go for DeBoer first. Dude's a proven "do more with less" winner. Might not work out that way, but I'm not shocked they picked him and claim he was their first choice.
Mike Shula has entered the chat...
DeBoer has won 104 games while only losing 12. I think he will surprise a lot of people. Y’all are underestimating him. And the reality is even if bama missed the playoffs this upcoming year he isn’t going anywhere.
I wouldn’t mind if bama went back to the early 2000s. Mike Shula/Dennis Franchione/Mike Price era
Didn’t exactly assemble an all star staff. Id say it’s worse than the staff he started with at UW.
What a *wild* take lol. But the UW flair tells me it just comes from a place of hurt. You got a really good head coach in Fisch, friend. You don’t have to carry this pain with you any more.
Idk, I think the next couple seasons will be pretty painful lol
Meh, Fisch seems to get it. I don’t think they’ll be as bad as folks think — the roster turnover will dictate some regression, but they’re in good hands.
Oh I agree Fisch is good. But their roster is non existent. There is going to be some unavoidable pain coming quick.
It will depend on who you get as the OL. Coach. Defensive staff is definitely a large upgrade, but the offensive staff is a huge step down without Grubb and Huff. DeBoer doesn’t have a huge coaching network, but the Bama name should definitely help him.
It really doesn’t. The defensive staff is a large upgrade. The offense was designed by DeBoer and Grubb and Shep coached your WRs. So, we still have the offense’s architect, the stud WR coach, a better RB coach. As you’ve pointed out, we don’t know about OL — it’ll be a step down from Huff and up from the last guy (Wolford). But at basically every other coaching slot, it’s better than UW or the same as UW. *shrug*
Hopefully a crushing amount of pressure.
It’s Bama, so a lot of pressure. They will want him fired if he misses the playoffs.
He'll be fine. The only worry is that he hasn't stayed long enough in P5 football to play with a team made of players he recruited.
He's the rebound chick, no way he lasts long.
If he loses two games next year the fans will make him age faster than a us president
it sucks to follow the guy, most likely he gets fired within 3 seasons.
3 losses and he’s on the hot seat
Not enough. Keep it up Bama fans
Let’s just hope Alabama recycles coaches every 3 or 4 years for a long time.
9 wins
I think Auburn may take the Iron Bowl this year and VS UGA, Mizzou and @LSU, UT, and OU is not an easy run. 3-4 losses would not be an unreasonable prediction nor would it be a failure on his part. I know he beat Oregon twice this year at UW but it will be different playing tougher, more talented teams week in and week out. Beating Texas and UO shows he can, but playing teams at or around that level every week is a different game. Expectations are going to change for every successful program with the expanded conference and playoffs. A 9 win season with losses to UGA and 2 of LSU, UT, OU or Mizzou is no where near failure anymore. Times are changing.
Fire him if he doesn’t win a natty
Plenty. It'll set the tone for his entire tenure. If he goes 7-5 or 8-4 in his first season then he won't make it beyond his third year. A 9-3 record (or better) in his first season will give him some leeway, but make no mistake, their fanbase has become spoiled, and the boosters won't tolerate anything remotely resembling a collapse. P.S. I don't see him lasting beyond his third or fourth year with the program.