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The closer Alabama football season gets, the more I’m inching up the bar of expectations for Kalen DeBoer’s debut. In late January, I pegged 8-4 or 9-3 as a realistic start. Now, at least 10 victories and a playoff appearance seem a more appropriate target.
Maybe it’s a smidge unfair to alter the mark, but I can’t help myself after the way DeBoer deftly handled the offseason. He quelled a short-term rash of transfers, clawed back some talent out of the portal, and reinstated calm confidence at Alabama after Nick Saban suddenly retired and turned the program on its head.
It’s not just DeBoer’s confidence that makes me elevate my projection for Alabama. I’ve seen plenty of confident men go down in flames. I saw it at Auburn just two years ago.
It’s DeBoer’s composure that has me feeling more bullish about the Tide than I did in January.
Those words sound similar, but they’re different qualities.
You can be confident and incomposed. You can be composed and unconfident.
DeBoer is confident – and he’s composed. That’s a good combination for a guy who accepted the challenge of replacing the irreplaceable.
DeBoer can handle the proverbial heat – and the literal heat.
“Welcome to the South, right?” DeBoer told reporters Wednesday after Alabama concluded its first preseason practice on a 92-degree morning. “Practice is a little bit warmer.”
Expectations are a little greater, too.
DeBoer knows what he signed up for, and he’s not taking down the bar.
“This program has that expectation of being championship caliber and being involved in the playoff every single year,” DeBoer told me in June, when I asked about Alabama’s playoff possibilities.
Let’s unpack whether that’s realistic.
∎ DeBoer’s got the quarterback to make it happen. Jalen Milroe showed impressive growth throughout last season,…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/one-word-tells-why-im-090853332.html
Author : The Tuscaloosa News
Publish date : 2024-08-01 09:08:53
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