Kalen DeBoer walked into SEC Media Days and tried to keep the focus on the day-to-day grind. Paul Finebaum heard something else entirely.
That’s the tension hanging over Alabama right now. DeBoer has already gotten the Crimson Tide into the College Football Playoff and won a first-round game, but in Tuscaloosa that only gets you so far. The bar was set long ago by Nick Saban, Paul “Bear” Bryant, and the rest: SEC titles, national titles, nothing less.
Asked whether championships will define his run at Alabama, DeBoer gave a measured answer.
“I certainly know that’s an important part of what’s happened in the program, so I wouldn’t doubt if that’s the case,” DeBoer said. “I’m not focused on that. I’m focused on just helping our program be the best and trying to bring out best and raise the level of everyone around me, from coaching staff to our players; trying to maximize what we’re capable every single day.”
Finebaum wasn’t buying it. On Thursday’s edition of First Take, the ESPN analyst went after DeBoer’s comments and argued that at Alabama, words carry real weight.
“He doesn’t think words matter at Media Days, but they do matter, for this reason,” Finebaum said. “Because, you’re trying to raise money to buy players nowadays.
You need momentum. You have to ultimately win, but the problem that Kalen DeBoer created yesterday is that he’s not going to have momentum from people he really needs.
I spoke this morning to a former Alabama football player, a prominent player, who played for and won championships. National Championships, not CFP road wins."
Finebaum said that former player told him the reaction inside the program was not positive.
“I’ll tell you what he said. This isn’t my opinion.
I’m a pundit. This guy played at Alabama and knows the pulse of Alabama," Finebaum continued.
"He said, ‘What Kalen DeBoer said yesterday is the reason why he will not succeed, nor will he ever win a National Championship.’ You have to have the DNA to do it.
I know how fans think, I know how former players think, and I know what the money people think. They did not like what he said yesterday."
He finished by making the point as bluntly as possible.
“It may sound cruel because Kalen DeBoer has won all these games and he has all these great things, but he doesn’t have a championship," Finebaum concluded. "What I heard yesterday is that he’s not thinking about a National Championship. If you’re not thinking about a National Championship at Alabama, you don’t need to be there.”
There’s plenty of room for criticism on both sides of this. DeBoer is coaching at Alabama now, not Washington, Fresno State, Indiana, Sioux Falls, or anywhere else on his résumé. That comes with a different kind of pressure, and the last two seasons have only sharpened the expectations around him.
Finebaum, meanwhile, has spent roughly half a century around the Alabama program and has seen every version of it. He knows how quickly the conversation turns in Tuscaloosa.
DeBoer may never match what Saban and Bryant did, but one title can change how a coach is remembered. Gene Stallings proved that.
The bigger question is whether DeBoer has the mindset to get there. He has a reputation as a job-hopper, and this is only year three for him at the helm of the operation.
Alabama still has a strong team, but one that needs a lot to break right if it’s going to win a national championship. A return to the College Football Playoff feels like the reasonable expectation, with a deeper run than last season the next step.
At the same time, college football has a way of surprising people. Indiana went undefeated only a year ago.
For now, DeBoer says his attention is elsewhere. Finebaum says that at Alabama, that answer is the problem. And with this job, the judgment always comes fast.
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