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At this point DeBoer has solidified his position here, right?
Posted on 11/8/26 at 6:03 pm
Posted on 11/8/26 at 6:03 pm
He's not Saban. He's also still got a lot of room to grow, adjust and improve (and he's a young coach experience wise at this level of football, which plays a big part in that I think).........but he's shown great willingness to do so, and he's been very solid in a really tough period in college football period, not even throwing in the replacing Saban aspect.
With the available coaches that we had at the time (and now, for that matter), I don't think we could have done any better than what we did - and that's from a guy who has not always been sold that this is going to work.
With the available coaches that we had at the time (and now, for that matter), I don't think we could have done any better than what we did - and that's from a guy who has not always been sold that this is going to work.
This post was edited on 11/8/26 at 6:04 pm
Posted on 11/8/26 at 6:09 pm to SummerOfGeorge
I’m down with DeBoer. Think he needs some better assistants, tho. Made much better hires this past offseason and will probably continue to do so. He will have to replace the OC and I think we lose Wommack sooner than later.
Posted on 11/8/26 at 6:14 pm to SummerOfGeorge
quote:
At this point DeBoer has solidified his position here, right?
No coach anywhere has ever "solidified his position". Just look at Clemson and Dabo.
Heck, there were Alabama fans looking to run off Saban a few years ago, thinking he had passed his prime.
Posted on 11/8/26 at 6:14 pm to SummerOfGeorge
No coach will ever truly be on solid footing at Alabama until and unless he wins a national championship. He's not getting fired anytime soon barring an embarrassing collapse to end this season and going like 6-6 next year though.
Posted on 11/8/26 at 6:15 pm to East Coast Band
quote:
No coach anywhere has ever "solidified his position". Just look at Clemson and Dabo.
Heck, there were Alabama fans looking to run off Saban a few years ago, thinking he had passed his prime.
I don't mean he's earned a lifetime contract. I mean he's established himself in a way that it's his program and every loss isn't (shouldn't) be a referendum on whether he should be here or not. His body of work compared to the rest of the country, specifically those who we could reasonably hire, has proven itself to be at the top of that list.
This post was edited on 11/8/26 at 7:11 pm
Posted on 11/8/26 at 6:15 pm to Robot Santa
quote:
No coach will ever truly be on solid footing at Alabama until and unless he wins a national championship
That's definitely a legitimate point, fair or unfair.
Posted on 11/8/26 at 6:18 pm to SummerOfGeorge
Let's ask the people who spent the last two seasons swearing Kiffin was the superior coach. .
Posted on 11/8/26 at 6:21 pm to SummerOfGeorge
I don’t know that there is more than 4 or 5 guys I’d take over him
Posted on 11/8/26 at 6:22 pm to Glorious
quote:
I don’t know that there is more than 4 or 5 guys I’d take over him
Which at this point is kind of what the true question is. If you told me tomorrow I could have Kirby would I make the trade? Obviously, but that isn't realistic scenario. And past that....he's in the conversation for the next 6-8 guys, and his resume stacks up to theirs.
It was very much not a given that we would end up with a guy who is in that conversation when Saban retired - as our history shows.
Posted on 11/8/26 at 6:30 pm to SummerOfGeorge
I don't know if I would trade CKD for Kirby. Kirby himself would tell you how much of a challenge it is to prepare for DeBo
Posted on 11/8/26 at 6:37 pm to SummerOfGeorge
He's undefeated coming off a bye week. And is 6-2 against top 25 SEC opponents on the road. His success is carrying over from when he was at Washington where he also had a great record against top 25 opponents. He's no doubt growing into the job. I believe if he can get an OC that can give this offense some flow, he can take this thing to the next level. His record is already pretty darn good as it is.
Posted on 11/8/26 at 6:38 pm to SummerOfGeorge
I don’t think there is another guy I’d take over him currently. He’s caught up to speed at Alabama pretty quickly and has the program largely steady. Scouting is great, players love him, and the guys he brings in are pretty focused.
My next options are basically Sarkisian or Lanning, and neither have really wowed me to say they’re better.
24 team playoff also makes season a bit more manageable with how much of a slog the SEC is now
My next options are basically Sarkisian or Lanning, and neither have really wowed me to say they’re better.
24 team playoff also makes season a bit more manageable with how much of a slog the SEC is now
Posted on 11/8/26 at 7:06 pm to SummerOfGeorge
quote:
I don’t know that there is more than 4 or 5 guys I’d take over him
Which at this point is kind of what the true question is.
I'm not convinced there are even that many. Kirby, then maybe Day and Cignetti. After that though? Sark is basically the same guy as DeBoer but maybe a little worse, Lanning is just a Nike NIL merchant, Cristobal's history of big game wins is almost entirely from last season's playoffs, Riley is...Riley, Dabo is cooked. Is there anyone else that wouldn't cause the fanbase to immediately riot just on name recognition (or lack thereof)?
Posted on 11/8/26 at 7:10 pm to Robot Santa
quote:
I'm not convinced there are even that many. Kirby, then maybe Day and Cignetti. After that though? Sark is basically the same guy as DeBoer but maybe a little worse, Lanning is just a Nike NIL merchant, Cristobal's history of big game wins is almost entirely from last season's playoffs, Riley is...Riley, Dabo is cooked. Is there anyone else that wouldn't cause the fanbase to immediately riot just on name recognition (or lack thereof)?
Yep - exactly. Frankly, it's Kirby......and then Cignetti though think it's still worth seeing how this plays out the next year or two (not to mention he's old). Past that......Day, Sark, Lanning, Cristobal, Freeman.........don't see a ton of difference there.
Obviously there are some younger coaches who are impressive (Chesney for one), but DeBoer was pretty much one of those when we hired him.
Posted on 11/8/26 at 7:21 pm to SummerOfGeorge
Forgot about Freeman, but I'd lump him in with Lanning and Cristobal as another guy I'm not convinced would still be winning 10+ a year against the SEC death march.
Posted on 11/8/26 at 7:26 pm to SummerOfGeorge
I gotta give DeBoer credit what he brought in with the portal, filling needs particularly on the line of scrimmage.
Our portal class wasn't rated high, however, DoBoer filled needs.
Also, he's an outstanding recruiter.
Players like his honesty with their future.
What I really like is he's generally a big game coach.
He does gotta do a better job getting players refocused coming off a big game. However, that seems to be an epidemic all across college football.
Even if offered, most of us don't see Grubb resigning. It'll be interesting who DeBoer hires to replace him.
We all get upset at times with the coaching. That goes along with the territory as a million dollar HC at any university.
I agree... I don't think we can do any better than DeBoer and next year with 24 team playoff, 9-3 is a lock for any SEC team.
Our portal class wasn't rated high, however, DoBoer filled needs.
Also, he's an outstanding recruiter.
Players like his honesty with their future.
What I really like is he's generally a big game coach.
He does gotta do a better job getting players refocused coming off a big game. However, that seems to be an epidemic all across college football.
Even if offered, most of us don't see Grubb resigning. It'll be interesting who DeBoer hires to replace him.
We all get upset at times with the coaching. That goes along with the territory as a million dollar HC at any university.
I agree... I don't think we can do any better than DeBoer and next year with 24 team playoff, 9-3 is a lock for any SEC team.
Posted on 11/8/26 at 7:28 pm to SummerOfGeorge
The transition after Saban’s retirement could have been much worse but let’s beat Vanderbilt first then revisit this topic?
Posted on 11/8/26 at 7:52 pm to SummerOfGeorge
quote:
Which at this point is kind of what the true question is. If you told me tomorrow I could have Kirby would I make the trade? Obviously, but that isn't realistic scenario. And past that....he's in the conversation for the next 6-8 guys, and his resume stacks up to theirs.
It was very much not a given that we would end up with a guy who is in that conversation when Saban retired - as our history shows.
What's funny is, for all the hate he gets from many of our own resident retards, he actually has two less regular season wins than Kirby since he was hired at Bama. If the refs didn't screw us against UGA, he'd have one less win at the moment.
Impressive? Or is Kirby the second worst coach ever?
Posted on 11/8/26 at 8:01 pm to SummerOfGeorge
Lots of good points made in here.
Assuming he doesn't drop the ball and wins out the remaining regular season, I think he has solidified himself enough to at least survive one down year at 8-4, maybe even 7-5. But with our fanbase and expectations, even one such year will put him on the hot seat going into the next year.
The one thing I see that will be interesting is this year's recruiting class. It is way below our historical levels.
And I understand why it is. We have a ton of returning talent, and we need to hold money to retain them. We are trying to make a big run in 27' and want to pay portal kids that can contribute right away. We are banking on (and have a pretty good track record of under DeBoer) making great evals on lower ranked kids.
But if CKD brings in a really low ranked recruiting class, that doesn't result in several diamonds in the rough, and follows it up with an underperforming season, certain parts of the fanbase will be out for his head.
Assuming he doesn't drop the ball and wins out the remaining regular season, I think he has solidified himself enough to at least survive one down year at 8-4, maybe even 7-5. But with our fanbase and expectations, even one such year will put him on the hot seat going into the next year.
The one thing I see that will be interesting is this year's recruiting class. It is way below our historical levels.
And I understand why it is. We have a ton of returning talent, and we need to hold money to retain them. We are trying to make a big run in 27' and want to pay portal kids that can contribute right away. We are banking on (and have a pretty good track record of under DeBoer) making great evals on lower ranked kids.
But if CKD brings in a really low ranked recruiting class, that doesn't result in several diamonds in the rough, and follows it up with an underperforming season, certain parts of the fanbase will be out for his head.
Posted on 11/8/26 at 8:03 pm to PuertoRicanBlaze
Your math is wrong. If we won the UGA game this year CKD and Kirby would have the same regular season record since he arrived in Tuscaloosa. Kirby is up 2 right now. If DeBoer had one more, and Kirby one less, they'd be tied.
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