that was the topic of the OP, my initial reply was to your contention that DeBoer was “great” based on a two-year sample size.

and FTR, Harsin wasn’t “terrible” either, just not capable of handling the competitive pressure of coaching at the major college level. “terrible” HCs dont win multiple conference championships and have .750 winning percentages. “Average” or “mediocre”, certainly, but its not like Boise started having 7-5 years on his watch.

he struggled adapting to the SEC, pissed off the wrong people, then after the stupid “internal investigation” foolishness said “frick it, ima gone mail it in and make em pay me to pump iron and build dragsters year-round” - which is more a testament to his shittiness as an employee more than his coaching ability, but i’ll admit thats a distinction with very little difference.

i note that you failed to respond to my belief that you would never have considered DeBoer a “great” HC prior to this most recent season. If you can recall ever mentioning him as a potential replacement for Saban on this or any other forum at any point before, say, two months ago, i would be very interested.

and describing a guy who will turn 50 during the upcoming season as “young” makes sense only in comparison to the age of the guy he’s replacing (who, by contrast, was in his 7th season as a P5 HC on his 50th birthday).

quote:
So who are these coaches with more major college experience than DeBoer? I have no idea what in the hell you are talking about.

Perkins: 4 years as an NFL HC
Curry: 7 as a P5 HC
Stallings: 7 as a P5 HC, 4 as an NFL HC
Price: 14 as a P5 HC

all with far more experience in “big boy” football, every one either being fired or leaving early due to clashes with the people overseeing the program (and i include Price because i firmly believe if he had the kind of unbridled enthusiastic support coming in that Saban had, his shenanigans in my hometown would likely never have made the papers).

like i said before, i feel like DeBoer has a decent chance to succeed at the Capstone, despite what appears to be a less than stellar first couple of weeks on the job. i merely take issue with your assumption that he is already a “great” HC based on essentially two seasons playing in what is now no longer a major conference.

you obviously disagree. thats your prerogative. i’m just saying that Bama is committing a huge amount of money - likely more than AU has paid in buyouts to all of their previous HCs combined - based on a hunch.

thats a risky move, even if the hunch is a good one. ask our friends in College Station about that.

This post was edited on 1/21/24 at 11:58 pm