Kalen DeBoer deserves a chance but he has a lot of issues to fix; if he doesn’t, low Tide is yet to come

 

 

 

Maybe Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer should grab his leg, fall down and fake an injury, as one of his players did in an unconscionable fashion Saturday in the loss to Tennessee.

That is because some of the more insufferable Crimson Tide fans believe that DeBoer is faking being a coach.

That’s lunacy, of course, but it’s an easy condemnation coming from those in the fan base who would misspell an X and an O, even if given extra chances, much less make the X’s and O’s move in the right direction.

The 24-17 loss to the Vols was bad enough but an assistant coach having King Mack fake an injury because the Alabama sideline was confused and couldn’t substitute properly is an embarrassment to a program that has never countenanced such behavior.

DeBoer said after Saturday’s game that the Tide has no killer instinct but that’s hard to have when you kill yourselves with mindless penalties and a lack of discipline that extends to the sidelines. The fallout from the Mack fallout is but one of many troubling symptoms of what seems to be a lack of discipline (see Malachi Moore, who kicked the ball during a tantrum in the loss to Vanderbilt and later said the defensive coaches had to get their calls in quicker, or Kendrick Law needlessly shoving a Tennessee player in his facemask). If that’s true, DeBoer’s first team need not worry about making the 12-team College Football Playoff; it will do well to have a winning season.

Of course, there’s always the Music City Bowl or the Birmingham Bowl, which should have vacancies this year since Auburn will not be participating in the postseason due to its total Freezeout (or is it flameout?) in the SEC. If the season continues this way, the Iron Bowl might get banned from television altogether.

The defeat in Knoxville was the second one-score game Alabama has lost in the last three weeks, tempting some fans to contemplate jumping off the top of Denny Chimes while it plays funeral dirges. They’d say “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms” would be an appropriate choice, so long as it’s not Jalen Milroe’s arm.

The fandemonium resulting from this team’s precipitous fall from No. 1 in the AP poll to No. 15 on Sunday — well outside the playoffs, if it’s any guide — has also caused the expected unfair comparisons of DeBoer to one Nicholas Lou Saban Jr., who really doesn’t want his burgeoning TV career interrupted to take calls about coming back. Miss Terry isn’t available either. So, DeBoer now has to add damage control to his duties but he doesn’t have the time to be the man working the bilge pumps on the Titanic. He has more constructive things to tend to.

First it was the defense, which actually played well enough to win on Saturday as coordinator Kane Wommack seemed at times to wean the Tide off his 4-2-5 scheme. But now, the problems are in the worst possible place — at quarterback.

It’s obvious that defensive coordinators have devised a blueprint to strap a heavy burden onto Milroe’s back: Keep him in the pocket, don’t let him scramble and make him read defenses. He ran for a season-best 117 yards and two touchdowns against Georgia; since then, he has 57 yards in three games. When Milroe is a running threat, he siphons coverage away from Ryan Williams. But he’s not finding Williams on schedule or throwing him open, often forcing Hollywood to make difficult catches.

It was good to see DeBoer trying to get Williams the ball more often on Saturday (he was targeted a season-high 20 times against the Vols) but the best wideout in the country isn’t any better than a walk-on when he is open and his quarterback throws the ball into a third-story window.

Milroe isn’t a prototypical DeBoer-styled quarterback; he’s not a pro-style pocket passer and never will be. DeBoer might move the pocket for Milroe but the options are limited and might require some tough love and sacrifice.

Backup Ty Simpson needs to be given a chance, not necessarily as the starter but as someone who needs meaningful snaps and to see if he can operate DeBoer’s offense by reading coverages, getting the ball out of his hand in three seconds and with anticipation, leading to accurate throws to Williams and the other receivers in space. If Simpson is in at quarterback, DeBoer could move Milroe to wideout or running back or as a quarterback in short-yardage scenarios and in the red zone. At this point, whatever is best for the team should be the top priority. Since Milroe is better in space, put him in space to begin with, to great effect, if he’s willing.

As for DeBoer, he should not be judged on his first seven games but on the future, for which he has recruited well; his 2025 class is generally ranked first or second. Besides — and I’ve pointed out this history lesson before — Paul “Bear” Bryant, Gene Stallings and Saban all had rough first years and all went on to be the three most successful and beloved coaches in Alabama history.

Not long ago, DeBoer was the Einstein of college football and Milroe was going to win the Heisman Trophy. Now, the Tide’s stock has dropped faster than electric cars but at least those can be recharged.

Can Alabama get plugged in? Not without changes. If nothing changes, DeBoer and the more reasonable segment of Tide supporters will endure some of the more schizophrenic demands and fears fouling the air hovering over the state — that DeBoer should be fired and Williams will transfer since neither Milroe nor anyone else can reliably supply him with the football.

If the situation doesn’t get better, DeBoer will have trouble recruiting elite receivers and NFL-caliber pass-blocking offensive linemen in the future. And whether Williams wants to stay or go, he will be approached by every top passing program in the country to leave Tuscaloosa.

So, forget the playoffs; there are plenty of mediocre high school and NFL teams which make it. The coaches and players should be motivated to perform to the standard expected of Alabama teams and that is DeBoer’s responsibility. He should be given the chance to fix the problems. Correct those and the program will be one that all Tide fans can be proud of.