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Kalen DeBoer could be excused for failing to live up to impossible standards. How could anyone be expected to match Nick Saban’s six national championships at Alabama?
Losing to Vanderbilt, though, constitutes a collapse, an inability to clear the SEC’s lowest hurdle, not the highest bar, a failure to win a game in which then-No. 2 Alabama was a 24-point favorite.
Losses like Alabama’s 40-35 Saturday stupefier in Nashville don’t just halt a first-year coach’s honeymoon. They threaten the marriage’s long-term health.
“In many ways, this is the most shocking and shattering loss I have ever seen,” Paul Finebaum, the SEC’s chief orator and host of “The Paul Finebaum Show” on the SEC Network, told me on Monday.
When an Alabama coach loses to Vanderbilt for the first time in 40 years, everything is subject to criticism.
Alabama fans, inflamed by the loss, are questioning DeBoer’s every move – from his game plan to his player discipline all the way his wardrobe choices. DeBoer wore a T-shirt for the game. Big deal, right? Well, welcome to the South, where everything Alabama football is a big deal, down to the coach’s game-day threads.
Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer talks with quarterback Jalen Milroe (4) during the second half of their game against Vanderbilt at FirstBank Stadium.
Finebaum has covered Alabama football in various capacities since 1980. He was present the last time Alabama lost to Vanderbilt, in 1984. It’s not just the opponent DeBoer lost to Saturday that left Finebaum gobsmacked, but the timing of it.
Alabama fans resided in DeBoer’s palm just one week ago. After he guided the Tide to a toppling of Georgia, DeBoer could’ve wandered onto any street corner in Tuscaloosa and sold out a rack of his now-infamous T-shirt.
That was then.
And now?
DeBoer wore a polo to his Monday news conference….
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/while-alabama-fans-grieve-paul-150109980.html
Author : USA TODAY Sports
Publish date : 2024-10-08 15:01:09
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