re: What does DeBoer need to do to change your opinion?

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Playoffs this year.

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Playoffs every year. Bama is a playoff program. Any year we dont make it is a failure, especially with 12 teams.

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Playoffs every year. Bama is a playoff program. Any year we dont make it is a failure, especially with 12 teams.

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This is as reasonable an expectation as you can have in the current environment. Would we love to win a national title every year? Yes, of course. You can't win if you don't get in the playoffs. Making the playoffs is the expectation, not the end goal.

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show SOME fricking emotion!

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And for heavens sake quit looking like you’re trying to hold the biggest shite of your life in every time the camera shifts to you during the game!

It's Pretty Simple for Coach DeBoer…
As Coach Bryant once said: "I ain't never been nothing but a winner." Or, to quote Al Davis: "Just win, baby."

Winning is the standard at Alabama. Always has been. And always should be!

Winning starts with the games you're supposed to win. There is simply no excuse for dropping multiple games as a double-digit favorite in such a short time span. No one is expecting Coach DeBoer to replicate the dominance of Coach Saban or Coach Bryant — but the expectation is clear: play winning football, every week. The product should be one that everyone can be proud of. Uphold the lines in Yeah Alabama... "For Bama’s pluck and grit have Writ her name in Crimson flame." Show some fight!

Alabama has a tradition and standard that must be upheld. Even coaches who are often criticized—Shula, DuBose, Franchione, Curry—each had 10-win seasons. Since 1919, only two coaches at the University have left with career losing records: Ears Whitworth and Mike Shula. Prior to that, from 1892–1919, only Eli Abbott and Malcolm Griffin had losing records.

Here’s a list of Alabama head coaches since 1919, with their winning percentages: I did not include Coach Kines one game as interm head coach who just needed to stop that "little inside trap".

Xen Scott (1919–1922) – .744
Wallace Wade – .812
Frank Thomas – .812
Harold Drew – .646
J.B. Whitworth (1955–1957) – .167
Paul W. Bryant – .818
Ray Perkins – .677
Bill Curry – .722
Gene Stallings – .713
Mike DuBose – .511
Dennis Franchione – .680
Mike Shula (2003–2006) – .303
Nick Saban – .877

Currently, Coach DeBoer is sitting at a .643 winning percentage. Only the two Mikes—DuBose and Shula—have lower career marks among modern-era coaches.

Why Are We Losing Games We Shouldn't?
Coach Saban often said: "It’s normal to be average." It is human nature to just want to survive. Yet, it is special to have someone be the best they can be. And right now we have kids being normal or average. Human nature leans toward comfort and complacency. But greatness demands something more—it takes leadership to consistently drive excellence. Right now, Alabama looks like a team playing to be average. And I am not sure if it is just the players that are being normal. Are the coaches falling prey to human nature as well?

We are seeing signs of being average in repeated losses to teams we should beat—Vanderbilt, Oklahoma, Florida State, and potentially more to come. It reflects a lack of accountability. Players aren't holding themselves to the standard, and it’s unclear if the coaches are either. AJ's statments about the sidelines at the FSU game are really depressing.

Preparation seems to be lacking. Post-game press conferences suggest the staff feels their schemes are sound, and it's just a matter of execution. But watching breakdowns like the Film Guys Podcast tells a different story—the defensive schemes last week were poor. And worse, they looked familiar. These weren’t isolated mistakes; this is a pattern from the Vandy, OU and Michigan games. Poor technique. Poor adjustments. Poor results.

And as a fan, I can say I share Coach Saban's philosphy on mediocre people. “Mediocre people don’t like high-achievers, and high-achievers don’t like mediocre people.” I don't like a team that is mediocre. I want to see guys that are high achievers and want to represent the University at a high level. Everyone on the team needs to be in a position that they can be successful. After watching film, I think we all know that we have players not being put in a position to be successful. And, some are not giving 100% effort 100% of the time. This is a non-negotiable and something that can be controlled. I won't comment on the staff's inability to make in-game adjustments. They are non-existent.

Over the last 10 games, we’ve been an average team. At .500, it’s actually worse than average by Alabama standards. That record isn’t just disappointing—it’s an outright failure.

The SEC Isn't the Pac-12
Coach DeBoer's previous stops—Fresno State and Washington—didn’t require his teams to bring their A-game every single week. He could outscheme weaker opponents. That won’t cut it in the SEC. Even so-called “bottom-tier” coaches like Clark Lea and Brent Venables outcoached this staff last year. And Gus Malzahn? He toyed with our defense last weekend.

Let’s be clear: Malzahn’s offense isn’t some mystery—it’s not the Colonel’s secret recipe. He’s been running the same concepts for 19 years: inside reads, jet sweeps, misdirection, a few trick plays, and lots of window dressing. Yet we looked completely unprepared for FSU.

You Don’t Have to Be From the SEC—But You Have to Get the SEC
I’m not saying you have to be an SEC lifer as Cam Newton stated to succeed in the conference — but you must understand what it takes. Coaches like Saban, Urban, Miles, Richt, and even Kelly have had success in the conference. Not everyone from outside of the SEC turns out to be a Bryan Harsin, John L. Smith, Curly Halman or Chad Morris. In this conference, every Saturday is a fight. If you show up with your C-game, you’re going to get beat. Simple as that.

Wearing a Fresno State or Washington jersey doesn’t carry the same weight. Beating those teams is just another win. But when opponents see that Crimson jersey, it’s their Super Bowl or National Championship. That’s why you still see field stormings after wins over Alabama. It still means something. It should mean even more to us.

So I am questioning if CKD rode Michael Penix and Rome Odunze to success in Washington? Did he have his Shaun Alexander and Chris Samuels?

Insights From Cecil Hurts
To flashback to November of 2006 and to steal a line from the late great Cecil Hurt... Someone at the University needs to ask the question that he raised in November of 2006 in his classic article on Mike Shula.

This article resonate today... If you don't remember it check it out.
Does Alabama have the best coach it could have?

"There is just one question that matters today. I can ask it, or you can ask it, but it doesn’t matter unless the right person at the University of Alabama asks it. "Does the Crimson Tide football program have the best head coach it could have?"

To summarize his conclusions.. If "yes", then let's all get behind CKD. If "no", then why not? And what is to be done to rectify the problem?

Let's pray that those same questions are being asked now by the right people. And we must hope that the correct answer is found... or Alabama football might not matter for a while.

Bottom Line
The bar has been set by generations of great coaches. The program doesn’t demand perfection—but it demands a relentless commitment to winning. If we’re not getting better, we’re getting worse. And right now, Alabama is worse than when Coach Deboer took the reigns.

Are the expectation high? Absolutely.

So yes, Coach DeBoer has a "simple" job:

Just win.

If not, his track record might continue... another short stop on his resume.