re: Troll free discussion of where Bama is right now and what direction they may be headed.

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I think freeze will have auburn in prime position to take Bamas place.

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I don't know. Freeze has made some questionable decisions this season. Maybe it was just part of the learning curb or maybe it was shaking the rust off. His team is trending up as of this moment though.

Bama is a team in transition.

Transition from a culture of accountability and long term development under Saban to an NIL era team of mercenaries who campaign for bigger payouts 15 minutes after losing in the playoffs.

Transition from a disciplinarian defensive focused head coach to an offense first players focused head coach.

Transition roster wise from a two gap defensive roster to a 1 gap 3 man front based on attacking the ball with huge attrition at key positions due to coaching turnover and the nfl draft.

Transition offensively as DeBoer is unable to run his base offense from Washington due to inheriting an entrenched QB with superhuman athleticism and irredeemable mental flaws who is incapable of running even a moderately complex passing offense or even an RPO.

Transition with regard to assistants who had family who didn’t want to go to the Deep South so they left for the NFL.

Transition talent wise. How many defensive starters would start for 2017 Bama? I think 2-3.

How many would start on offense? I think 4.

Overall talent is down and young but still elite. Offensively it’s not being maximized due to the QB play and defensively you have 6-7 starters who are chronically hurt or out for the year at this point and running a new scheme.

None of that results in consistent output. Which is why we’ve seen highs higher than about anyone else in CFB and lows that are worse than mediocre.

DeBoer has won big everywhere he’s been.

He needs a QB.

He needs stability.

He needs a team that isn’t in transition top to bottom.

He also needs to demonstrate he’s capable of holding elite players accountable in an NIl era which has not happened thus far.

fug the sec, sec
and bama can kiss my arse…

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If Deboer lets Milroe or the OC return, I'm all for getting rid of him.

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The OC just wants to run DeBoers offense but can’t, he’s a DeBoer protege.

I have no idea how to fairly evaluate him with Milroe at QB but I agree the gameplan at OU was horrible.

Milroe and that shitty defense is why they stink this season...I can't put this on KB.

Give it 2-3 years, his recruiting and his roster, and they'll be a good team again. Not up to Bama standards of the last 15-20 years, but a damn good team. More like an LSU or Florida where there will be down years but, all in all, no one will want to play them because they can beat anyone. They'll still have off-weeks or run into teams with equal or greater talent, but a good solid team.

And there's nothing wrong with just being good. Bama's run was unprecedented...it's the outlier. To expect that level of success to just go uninterrupted with a new coach is setting expectations to an absurd level.

I'd argue it's more fun as a fan going week to week, especially against top competition, not really sure if you'll win or not. Stressful as all hell, but definitely more fun.

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Yep. A player (Koht, earlier this month) gets suspended from the team, then enters the portal. As said above, the inmates are now running the asylum.

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That was likely the point of the suspension. They knew he'd leave if they suspended him.

There are only 2 max generational coaches at a time. Saban was the goat. Smart established himself as the number 2 and Laning established himself as 2b over the last 3 years.

When Saban retired and Bama didn’t land either of those 2 this was inevitable. Put Literally any other coach (not named Smart) in the SEC at Bama and they have this same season.

If Bama wants to go back to who they were they need to outbid Oregon/Nike for Lanning. Good luck. If they don’t they could begin a spiral for not accepting reality. It’s what set Nebraska and Tennessee back.

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Oh, please …. nobody gives AF about the SEC, they care only about their own program

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When they took 2 teams and made them play for a title, it mattered. Right, Auburn 2005?

Now, with 12, it really doesnt. If you cant get in with them taking 12 teams, you really shouldnt have much of a chance to win it all.

What a typical comment by a group thinker. Vanderbilt is obviously not a weak opponent this year. We have been in every game except South Carolina. But you are too programmed. So you think like the herd.

In the spring, the official narrative here was that Alabama had lost most of their roster.

This fall the official narrative here is that Alabama has the most talented roster in college football.

The truth is somewhere in the middle.

Alabama lost a lot. They had had to replace both cornerbacks and one safety on defense. They did with two first year transfers and a true freshman.

Alabama lost WR1, WR2, TE1, RB1, RB3, and their starting center. All but RB1 they replaced with first year players, a true freshman and four transfers. Hell, even the kicker is a first year transfer.

Outside of Milroe and the offensive line, Alabama had almost no starters return. There are so many new faces I think it is no surprise they don’t mesh as well as a team that has been playing together for years. Both the coaches and the players had to figure out a lot in a hurry.

Of Alabama’s 85 man scholarship roster, this is the first year at Alabama for over 40% of them. Almost half of the roster is brand new faces.

A LOT of SEC coaches have lost a couple of games in their first year at their SEC school.

Saban (LSU) - 4 losses
Saban (AL) - 6 losses
Smart - 5 losses
Spurrier (FL) - 2 losses
Spurrier (SC) - 5 losses
Kelly - 4 losses
Heupel - 6 losses
Richt - 4 losses

Alabama will be fine.

But, with the current transfer portal system and NIL, I do not think any team will have a run like Alabama did under Saban ever again. Solid, young backups are going to transfer. Not many will be patient and wait for their chance. Add to that coaching changes in today’s era wreck rosters and a new coach has their work cut out for them to be consistently great year after year.

If Kirby doesn’t win a national championship this year, everyone will be screaming the sky is falling for Georgia. You may have your own issues to deal with shortly.