Alabama opened year two of the Kalen DeBoer era last Saturday afternoon with a disappointing 31-17 loss to unranked Florida State on the road. It marked the Crimson Tide’s third loss in their last four games dating back to last season and DeBoer’s fourth loss in eight games where Alabama has been at least a 14-point favorite.
Play was poor from Alabama on both sides of the ball, as the Crimson Tide rushed for just 31 yards and allowed nearly 400 yards to the Florida State offense. It certainly looked like a far cry from Nick Saban-led teams, which would almost certainly always dominate on at least one side of the ball.
ESPN‘s Booger McFarland revealed on the Sept. 2 edition of ‘Pardon My Take‘ that he sees a disconnect between Alabama players and head coach Kalen DeBoer. While many players claim that they would run through a wall for their head coach, McFarland said DeBoer’s players wouldn’t even run to the ball for him.
“The two things you control in life are your attitude and your effort,” McFarland said. “You can control those two things. Their attitudes can be better and their effort needs to get a whole hell of a lot better. Like, if I’m the coach, I turn the film on and show everybody that got their ass kicked. I show everybody that wasn’t running to the football. The only way men handle things, I don’t know how you do things, but we close the doors and talk direct. We don’t beat around the bush. Either ‘hey, you sucked today’ or ‘that wasn’t good enough.’ I’m gonna tell you directly that it wasn’t good enough. That’s how you talk to young men. You’ve got to close the door and say ‘I wasn’t good enough as a coach.”
McFarland shreds relationship between DeBoer and players
“You’re not gonna get dramatically stronger in the next six weeks. I think they’re strong enough. You’ve got to change your attitude and your effort. It starts with the coaching staff. Whatever DeBoer is doing, he’s not connecting with the players because you often hear this about a coach: ‘I’ll run through a wall for him.’ Run through a wall? They wouldn’t even run to the ball for him, let alone through a wall.”
“Somewhere along the line, he’s not getting them to buy into everything that he is trying to instill. That can change, but your habits have to change. If they’re doing that on gameday, I guarantee they do it at practice.”
The ‘Noles and Crimson Tide were tied at seven through the first quarter, but Florida State rattled off 17 unanswered points to take a 24-7 lead with 9:45 remaining in the third quarter. Alabama cut it to a 24-17 game courtesy of a Rico Scott receiving touchdown early in the fourth, but a rushing touchdown by FSU back Gavin Sawchuck all but wrapped up the win for the ‘Noles.
Facing a boatload of adversity now, DeBoer will have to steer the program back on track to avoid a firestorm in Tuscaloosa. The Tide will be back in action on Saturday when they host UL-Monroe. Kick-off is scheduled for 7:45 PM on the SEC Network.
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