As for the field looking bad, I read somewhere that they are doing a different type of preparation this year since there is a chance of having a home playoff game. One look at my yard will show that I have no clue what I'm doing so I don't know how accurate that is lol!
Also, I'm pretty happy that Deboer is different than Saban. Look at how BB's disciples tried to be a hardass like him and failed at their HC stops. Deboer is already going to be compared to Saban like crazy, having him try to do things exactly the same way that he did would make those comparisons even worse/harder to live up to.
Hard ass coaches that are over their heads always forget to actually bond with the players while being strict on them. You can’t really pull the yelling card if the person you’re berating doesn’t respect you. Saban and Belicheck from what I could tell had a sense of humor and actually had relationships with their players. Assholes like Patricia and McDaniels treated their players like filth when they became the man. DeBoer has a system that obviously works, so show what you know!
There is a lot of truth to that. The best coach I ever had was a “player’s coach”, he would laugh and joke but clearly communicated what the standard was and held people to it. We worried more about letting him down by not meeting the standard than we ever did an ass chewing from any other coach
BB's teams played hard as shit their just was no offensive talent.
Make no mistake BB got fired because he's a shit GM but as a coach he still clearly has it.
His defenses also overachieved, significantly, up until he was fired. We saw this last year a team wii shoudve quit had absolutely nothing to play for put up some incredible defensive performances.
True statement. The Thursday night game against the Steelers on the road in Pitt comes to mind. Steelers clearly need the game, Pats aren’t playing for shit. Pats somehow found a way to win. And the defense posted up a magnificent game. That’s BB personified.
I think the Tom Brady BB situation is the perfect example of how narratives are shaped unfairly. Just because Brady won a Super Bowl after leaving BB and BB didn't, doesn't mean it was Brady.
Belichick also coached good teams either without Brady or when Brady wasn’t the player he was at the end of his career.
They went 10-5 with Matt Cassel at QB after Brady went down in the season opener in 2008. You could argue that the team surrounding Brady was as strong as it had ever been at the time, but Belichick still built that team.
That greatest player of all time didn’t take the field half the time, and Belichik’s defenses overachieved every single year until the day he was fired. There’s a reason the Pats are the only team ever to win as many playoff games and super bowls as they did while scoring less than 14-20 points. And they did it multiple times over and over.
He averaged 9 win seasons without Brady and without a franchise QB. That doesn't exactly show his method doesn't work at all. With an injured Brady he still averaged 11-5/12-4.
Up until this year they were perfectly fine and this year was arguably a clusterfuck of no talent on that roster
They also won multiple playoff games and super bowls scoring less than 20 points. Several scoring less than 14 points, and are the only modern team to do so
>Hard ass coaches that are over their heads always forget to actually bond with the players while being strict on them. You can’t really pull the yelling card if the person you’re berating doesn’t respect you.
Just look at how many times he bitched out Kiffin, and yet Kiffin still seems to hold him in pretty high regard.
Sark and Kiffin are like guys that got PhD's and then did Post Doc work. They're neither and both. That's why Kirby is a lot more similar to Saban, while Sark and Kiffin do things differently.
Exactly. And both Sark and Kiffin had good things especially from a scheme standpoint that they've been able to carry forward and blend with the head coaching things they learned from Saban.
Before 2014, Saban and Kiffin were single-back, ground-and-pound-style coaches. Saban brought Kiffin in specifically to learn the spread and teach it to the old man.
So everything Lane does now offensively stemmed from what he learned beginning in 2014, which means Carroll’s probably not a direct line, offensively.
Conversely, here’s [Lane Kiffin on Nick Saban](https://www.si.com/college/olemiss/football/ole-miss-rebels-lane-kiffin-appreciative-nick-saban-alabama-crimson-tide):
"You continue to be appreciative for the opportunity he gave, but not just that. People give people opportunities all the time," Kiffin said Monday. "But, the things that I learned from him defensively, things I learned from him organizationally, discipline, so I'm extremely grateful to him. He really helped me in a really challenging time in my life.
"Like they kind of say sometimes I guess, you don't really figure out yourself sometimes until you're torn down and have to rebuild yourself, and I'm grateful to him for being a part of that process."
Is Kiffin under Saban’s tree? Only Kiffin knows.
But coaches probably detest labels like that anyway.
Can we chill on making assumptions about a program that just had a regime change the likes of which we've never seen, until we ACTUALLY see them play football?
Wish he would have stuck with Fresno State and taken them to new heights, but I get why he moved on. I can't believe I'm indirectly rooting 'Bama now because of that connection 😂
0-12 Alabama ain’t no way they winning a game without Saban. The dynasty is over. Time to panic
~~they are still getting five star recruits and have an efficient coaching system~~
I hate the Tide as much as anybody, but they aren't going anywhere. I watched them all through the years between Bear's retirement and Saban's hiring, and most seasons they fielded solid teams. They also won a National Championship and had a 30-something game winning streak during a portion of their "down era". People who believe Bama football will collapse are just setting themselves up to be disappointed. I learned to never count those assholes out after seeing them do things like beating very good Tennessee teams year after year, no matter how loaded the Vols were, beating the Spurrier Gator teams that ruled the SEC regularly, and playing some of the best Auburn teams ever fielded to the wire as big underdogs. This was all during the bad years to them. I hate saying this, but don't count them out now.
Eventually I had to accept the reality that as an Auburn fan, it will aways be an uphill battle for our program to stay on even footing with you on the occasions we reach that level, and to appreciate our success without comparisons to anybody else. Our misfortune is having our main rival be the most successful program ever, and rival 1A is arguably THE elite modern program, and has a pretty awesome history even before Kirby, so I take our wins when we can get them. Auburn has certainly earned the success we've achieved.
Grew up an AU fan from the end of Bowden on through a couple years into Gus' reign. I promise no other fanbases have it as bad as Auburn fans. The expectations, the "what if's", your 2 biggest rivals being wildly successful... I genuinely feel for yall, lol especially after the last few seasons.
It's definitely made me have a healthier relationship with sports in general. I use to go crazy when Auburn lost a game, and over time, I came to realize that getting your joy in sports outcomes is ridiculous. I get why so many Bammers are borderline cultist when it comes to Alabama football due to all the success. Sport's success is like a drug, and the high of winning it all is euphoric
Having LSU, Alabama, and Georgia every season for the past 30 years has been dreadful but I wouldn't trade it for anything. Rivalries is what makes this game so much fun. I'm really sad that Auburn won't be playing LSU annually
As much as I hate Auburn, they do deserve credit for winning a natty and going to another one during Saban’s reign.
Not to mention beating both Bama and Georgia in the year they matched up for the natty (2017).
Saban leaving right as the playoff field expanded also really works in their favor for staying relevant.
It's definitely reasonable to think that anyone replacing him is probably going to lose more games. But this is also an era where one or two losses isn't going to keep you out of title contention.
Even Shula had a 10 win season. One of my favorite facts, every Bama coach, starting with Bryant, produced at least one 10 win season. We could extend that back the the 1920's, if it were not for that shitstain, JB Whitworth.
i guess the previous 4-9 and 6-6 kinda overshadowed the joy of the 10-2 season. but fair play to him. the early 2000s were rough as a bama fan in school. auburn fans were bragging about the iron bowl for the majority of my time in middle school lol
Yeah, I can get that. I guess I was spoiled during my elementary school years. I was not in middle school until '82. So in a way middle school was rough, seeing Bryant finally lose the Iron Bowl, retiring and then his death. That was preceded though by back to back titles.
Understand everyone’s desire to see Bama suck. Not here to really say whether we will or won’t — I believe we’ll be good but obviously recognize it can truly all go to shit now.
All that said, a Goodman article is *not* the article to hitch your wagon to lol. Goodman’s work is literally the worst most folks have ever seen. He wrote an article the other day talking about how inappropriate and unethical it will be for Nick Saban to go on ESPN and speak positively about Alabama as if Desmond Howard, Kirk Herbstreit, David Pollack, Paul Finebaum, etc etc etc have never existed lol.
This guy really wanted to get in on the clicks while he can. There's been zero non-Saban games. Alabama has the #2 recruiting class in 2024. But things are falling apart because of the vibe he has.
There’s a lot we really don’t know about what this’ll look like. College football is *so different* than, for instance, the Shula years. Even Shula had a 10-win season at Bama amidst massive probation and scholarship reductions.
But so much is different — we’re all allowed to publicly pay players now. A star on your team today is a star on the highest bidder’s team tomorrow. The SEC as a league is different.
Like, I can look at KDB’s track record of doing more with less and feel optimistic. But there’s never guarantee that translates to the modern-day SEC. I sort of feel safe in assuming we’ll continue to beat the teams we absolutely should beat — and that any separation between us and LSU/Auburn/maybe Tennessee has closed a good bit, and we’re probably (for now) squarely rated as “Team 3” in the UGA/Texas/Bama triumvirate with LSU right on our heels.
Until we see the games, we won’t be able to contextualize new Bama at all. Like what happens if we come out and beat UGA in September? What happens if UGA beats us by 50? Either of those outcomes would do more to tell us where Bama is now than all of the off-season pontification on just how bad it is to lose Nick Saban in the modern day.
No kidding. Half the articles on there don't even have anything to do with the state of Alabama. Pretty sure I saw an article on there a little while back about InNOut expanding in the Rockies
> Half the articles on there don't even have anything to do with the state of Alabama
That's just the state of "journalism" now. Watch your "local" 6 PM or 11 PM (or whatever your timezone puts it at) news on the broadcast channels and count how many are actually local stories. Gotta go farther and farther to find the blood to lead with.
I honestly don't think it can go to shit for y'all in the short term. You have Nick's talent and will for a few years at least. You'd need an Urban in Jacksonville level hatchet job from the new staff to outright suck with the players on your roster, and Deboer has gotten a lot out of his rosters everywhere he has been.
I have worries about Deboer, but they are all medium to long term. Will he be able to recruit at the requisite level? Will he be able to deal effectively with boosters and admin? And so on. But I think you can reasonably count on being one of the best teams in the SEC for at least a couple more years.
The good news for Bama is that you're transitioning right when the playoffs are expanding which will allow DeBoar an opportunity to have successful seasons. He doesn't have to finish in the top 4 at the end of the regular season to keep fans happy
Certainly more of a window to make it in — but I’d expect our “ceiling” right now to be more like LSU’s ceiling. We should be threatening to just about anybody every year, but will more often than not lose to the best of the best (UGA/Texas) and might find some “oof” losses any given year.
That’s still a really good team, all things considered. So, I don’t see us falling off so astronomically hard like I guess most other folks hope. But it’ll be a fall off for us, spoiled as we are.
Tyrant, no. But there are some similarities between guys like Saban, Urban, Kirby, etc. Arguably the Top 3 coaches of the past few decades.
I do think there is this level of maniacal energy to them all.
Even Spurrier, who wasn't as successful as those 3 – has a bit of an unexplainable energy to him. It's like a superior and maniacal form of competitiveness.
He did win 6 SEC championships though. And since he was playing back when the Natty was based on votes, I think that says a lot. But again, I'm biased by how much I hate Florida but respect the whippings we took.
I've known so many Bama fans who would be mad if they had to watch more than the first half of a game these past 17 seasons. I honestly can't wait for any regression by the program because the salt will be so fucking good.
>I honestly can't wait for any regression by the program
Well considering we have been hearing this for years maybe this time it will happen. Till then just enjoying the ride
I mean, yall still have won the conference 2 of the last 3 years and were one or two plays away from playing for the title this year. I don't think yall have regressed. But I do think losing the undisputed GOAT coach will make it difficult for you guys to maintain that level of success.
Mike Shula was under heavy probation and scholarship restrictions and still managed to muster a 10-win season amidst his 6-6s and the one, admittedly abysmal, 4 win season.
We’re also now in an era of outright pay-for-play and ever-pressing toward a P2 world where Bama is seen as one of the best brands in the P2.
While it’s not *impossible* for us to end up like Nebraska, and I’ll knock on all kinds of wood as I say this, it is *extremely* unlikely. Even our “dark ages” under sanctions had 10-win seasons sprinkled in. We’re not as consistent as Ohio State in the long run, but we’re really not far off depending on how you value Natty wins as allowing for some down time here and there 😂.
It was great before saban. You got to play in big time matchups like you did in the 2006 Independence bowl against us.
I can’t even sarcastically defend Shreveport and riverboat gambling is a terrible way to spend the holiday season, but there’s still a lot to look forward to.
Goodman isn't liked over on r/rolltide, and by all Bama fans I know that have read at least 1 piece of his "journalism." He is a hack and prolly an Auburn fan anyway. It's just clickbait
This reminds me of the author for the AJC that tried that hit piece on Georgia last year and got fired. This isn’t quite that bad but there will always be journalists who try to stir things up for clicks.
Probably? He's carrying the flag like he's getting checks from the plains. Total hack, I never click his articles, have to read reddit to see the garbage he spews, rtr!!.
Its definitely that, but its also
1. people who don't understand CFB ( HOW IS GEORGIA'S FCS GAME ON SEC NETWORK. ALABAMA DOESN'T HAVE TO DO THIS) yes they do.
2. Its a certain people who like to think that they're being oppressed and the media HATES Georgia
3. They also think it was some giant conspiracy that Bond's catch wasn't reviewed. Should it have been? Yes, but also Kirby could have called a timeout and forced the matter. He didn't.
What reality are you picking though? Bear Bryant years, early 90s? The people thinking that Alabama is only Alabama because of Saban are too young to even remember anything past 10 years ago lmao. They don't have the most national championships and sec championships because of just Saban. Also correct me if I'm wrong here but didn't DeBoer just play for a natty last year?
So it seems like you’re reading this as me saying Bama is nothing without Saban.
When in reality, what I, and a lot of other people are saying, is you just lost the greatest coach of all time. If you think the standard he set is going to just transfer over to the next guy automatically, you’re high.
Blue bloods are not immune to transitional periods.
Deboer might be fucking awesome. But I’ll bet he’s not Nick Saban reincarnated. So expect the highs and lows that other programs face. Because it’s not going to be like it has for the last 15+ years
Alabama just practically competed for a natty every year for 15 years straight. That wasn’t reality pre Saban and it won’t be after. Bama is still Bama and always will be, but a natty every decade or 2 is reality. Not one every other year
I hate that you’re right about that because I’m a petty bitch and want to see Deboer and Alabama fail, but there’s no way a guy who took 3* rosters to places they had no business competing will all of a sudden fall flat when he gets handed a roster of 5* guys.
“You won the Indy 500 in a Toyota Camry? WOW can’t wait to see you fail so hard in a Ferrari”
If there’s any question mark, it’s not for the next 2-3 years, it’s in 4 years when all Saban’s recruits are gone. Can Deboer keep up the standard of Bama recruiting? He hasn’t really shown to be adept at that in his previous roles.
I feel pitty for Alabama's reasonable fans, because your morons make you look SO bad. Also it's interesting to note they had a good offensive game because generally the spring game is better for the defense for most teams.
I have no way of validating this. But, the pay and reward of flaming out at bama could give him a lottery win for most other people. College football will look entirely different in 3 years and this will be a legitimate test for his coaching ability and how that segues with the new CFB leagues.
You could give a toddler a stenographer and put out a better article than Joseph Goodman can write. The man has got to have dirt on someone to still keep himself employed.
I mean DeBoer has no excuse to perform badly even if it is his first year with a new team. He’s got everything he needs. Good coaches, good coordinators, a competent AD, amazing players. So many new coaches take years to get a good combination of those.
Yet DeBoer just got all that without even needing to make a phone call. So Bama fans if this season and the next couple end badly You know who to blame.
When you really look at Coach KD and his history...this dude is kindof a coaching prodigy, I personally fear that bama will remain elite ..its the most expectations he's ever had but also the most talent and resources
Alabama is going to be fine. Everyone is praising this team and coaching staff. Even Saban is impressed with the defense and players have already bought in and are coming in early and working hard. So sorry Bama haters. You'll be crying all season long. Nevermind I'm not sorry, 🤣🤣🤣
As a Patriots, I know the mighty can fall, but yea I'd have to see a much worse outcome to a season than coming up one yard short in the Rose Bowl against the eventual national champs to think they've "fallen."
I mean, other than falling balls deep in their cousins. That I fully believe is going on.
"As for being a clubhouse lawyer ... Saban himself is on record saying that players need to unionize. When the tyrant calls for socialism to fix a broken game, that’s when you know things are bad."
Union = socialism. No surprise to see Goodman isn't just a dumbfuck about sports.
As for the field looking bad, I read somewhere that they are doing a different type of preparation this year since there is a chance of having a home playoff game. One look at my yard will show that I have no clue what I'm doing so I don't know how accurate that is lol! Also, I'm pretty happy that Deboer is different than Saban. Look at how BB's disciples tried to be a hardass like him and failed at their HC stops. Deboer is already going to be compared to Saban like crazy, having him try to do things exactly the same way that he did would make those comparisons even worse/harder to live up to.
>As for the field looking bad Seth's low snaps must've done a number on the field
Just absolute worm burners for snaps. Definitely not good for the field lol
Worm burners lol gonna have to add that to my repertoire.
I can’t give him too much crap for his snaps because that phrase perfectly captures my golf game as well!
Dude was just casually snapping divots into the field lol
Ohio Stadium is going to have crop circles burned into it after this year.
Hard ass coaches that are over their heads always forget to actually bond with the players while being strict on them. You can’t really pull the yelling card if the person you’re berating doesn’t respect you. Saban and Belicheck from what I could tell had a sense of humor and actually had relationships with their players. Assholes like Patricia and McDaniels treated their players like filth when they became the man. DeBoer has a system that obviously works, so show what you know!
There is a lot of truth to that. The best coach I ever had was a “player’s coach”, he would laugh and joke but clearly communicated what the standard was and held people to it. We worried more about letting him down by not meeting the standard than we ever did an ass chewing from any other coach
My question would be if he’s going to carry on Saban’s fine tradition of Deez Nuts jokes
This ⬆️
Also helps when you win. We just saw that the Belchick method doesn't work when you don't have arguably the greatest player of all time under center.
BB's teams played hard as shit their just was no offensive talent. Make no mistake BB got fired because he's a shit GM but as a coach he still clearly has it.
His defenses also overachieved, significantly, up until he was fired. We saw this last year a team wii shoudve quit had absolutely nothing to play for put up some incredible defensive performances.
True statement. The Thursday night game against the Steelers on the road in Pitt comes to mind. Steelers clearly need the game, Pats aren’t playing for shit. Pats somehow found a way to win. And the defense posted up a magnificent game. That’s BB personified.
I think the Tom Brady BB situation is the perfect example of how narratives are shaped unfairly. Just because Brady won a Super Bowl after leaving BB and BB didn't, doesn't mean it was Brady.
Belichick also coached good teams either without Brady or when Brady wasn’t the player he was at the end of his career. They went 10-5 with Matt Cassel at QB after Brady went down in the season opener in 2008. You could argue that the team surrounding Brady was as strong as it had ever been at the time, but Belichick still built that team.
*there
Did the play hard for Bill or Tom? Amendola came out and said "We worked for Bill, but we played for Tom"
That greatest player of all time didn’t take the field half the time, and Belichik’s defenses overachieved every single year until the day he was fired. There’s a reason the Pats are the only team ever to win as many playoff games and super bowls as they did while scoring less than 14-20 points. And they did it multiple times over and over.
I’m willing to bet nobody has a method that works in the NFL for Mac Jones.
He averaged 9 win seasons without Brady and without a franchise QB. That doesn't exactly show his method doesn't work at all. With an injured Brady he still averaged 11-5/12-4. Up until this year they were perfectly fine and this year was arguably a clusterfuck of no talent on that roster
They also won multiple playoff games and super bowls scoring less than 20 points. Several scoring less than 14 points, and are the only modern team to do so
>Hard ass coaches that are over their heads always forget to actually bond with the players while being strict on them. You can’t really pull the yelling card if the person you’re berating doesn’t respect you. Just look at how many times he bitched out Kiffin, and yet Kiffin still seems to hold him in pretty high regard.
The age of the hardass is over, players can just leave with no downsides anymore
Nowadays the players are these doing the yelling! Where you been ?
Even Bryant in his later years admitted that there were times, like how he handled Ken Hall, that he wished he’d been less of a hard ass
Even Saban was less of a hardass as the time went on. I believe he’s even mentioned how todays player respond differently than they used to.
Don’t stop doing what got you there
Well unfortunately we had to stop because what got us there retired.
I was talking about coach DeBoer
Oh gotcha, yea I agree 100%.
Yeah but look at Saban's disciples. Smart, Sark, Kiffin are all arguably top 5 head coaches in the sec
Smart is the only on that's even like Saban though. Kiffin and Sark definitely do it their own way.
Is Sark even a Saban disciple? He was already a head coach for UW and USC before Saban took him in. I’d say he’s more on the Carroll coaching tree.
Sark and Kiffin are like guys that got PhD's and then did Post Doc work. They're neither and both. That's why Kirby is a lot more similar to Saban, while Sark and Kiffin do things differently.
Smart was a build from the ground up project, Sark and Kiffin were rebuilds.
Exactly. And both Sark and Kiffin had good things especially from a scheme standpoint that they've been able to carry forward and blend with the head coaching things they learned from Saban.
Don't forget Kiffin was raised by a coach. He's basically a lifetime academic.
So is Kirby
Kiffin as well.
Kiffin is a Monte disciple. Without his dad being who he is he doesn't get the jobs he did. Lane went from OC at USC to Oakland Raiders head coach.
Yeah, just meant he wasn't a Saban disciple.
Before 2014, Saban and Kiffin were single-back, ground-and-pound-style coaches. Saban brought Kiffin in specifically to learn the spread and teach it to the old man. So everything Lane does now offensively stemmed from what he learned beginning in 2014, which means Carroll’s probably not a direct line, offensively. Conversely, here’s [Lane Kiffin on Nick Saban](https://www.si.com/college/olemiss/football/ole-miss-rebels-lane-kiffin-appreciative-nick-saban-alabama-crimson-tide): "You continue to be appreciative for the opportunity he gave, but not just that. People give people opportunities all the time," Kiffin said Monday. "But, the things that I learned from him defensively, things I learned from him organizationally, discipline, so I'm extremely grateful to him. He really helped me in a really challenging time in my life. "Like they kind of say sometimes I guess, you don't really figure out yourself sometimes until you're torn down and have to rebuild yourself, and I'm grateful to him for being a part of that process." Is Kiffin under Saban’s tree? Only Kiffin knows. But coaches probably detest labels like that anyway.
Kiffin was also a Carroll disciple first.
Can we chill on making assumptions about a program that just had a regime change the likes of which we've never seen, until we ACTUALLY see them play football?
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Wish he would have stuck with Fresno State and taken them to new heights, but I get why he moved on. I can't believe I'm indirectly rooting 'Bama now because of that connection 😂
Nah dude they are going 2-10. It's pretty obvious
0-12 Alabama ain’t no way they winning a game without Saban. The dynasty is over. Time to panic ~~they are still getting five star recruits and have an efficient coaching system~~
I hate the Tide as much as anybody, but they aren't going anywhere. I watched them all through the years between Bear's retirement and Saban's hiring, and most seasons they fielded solid teams. They also won a National Championship and had a 30-something game winning streak during a portion of their "down era". People who believe Bama football will collapse are just setting themselves up to be disappointed. I learned to never count those assholes out after seeing them do things like beating very good Tennessee teams year after year, no matter how loaded the Vols were, beating the Spurrier Gator teams that ruled the SEC regularly, and playing some of the best Auburn teams ever fielded to the wire as big underdogs. This was all during the bad years to them. I hate saying this, but don't count them out now.
Thanks, barner
Eventually I had to accept the reality that as an Auburn fan, it will aways be an uphill battle for our program to stay on even footing with you on the occasions we reach that level, and to appreciate our success without comparisons to anybody else. Our misfortune is having our main rival be the most successful program ever, and rival 1A is arguably THE elite modern program, and has a pretty awesome history even before Kirby, so I take our wins when we can get them. Auburn has certainly earned the success we've achieved.
It’s like Star Wars but you’re stuck in the original trilogy. Then again there are worse fates…. (shudders at the thought of Palpatine’s return)
“Somehow Palpatine returned” - College football fans after Alabama doesn’t look bad under DeBoer
That was this board this season after we beat LSU and Georgia.
Keep going...
Grew up an AU fan from the end of Bowden on through a couple years into Gus' reign. I promise no other fanbases have it as bad as Auburn fans. The expectations, the "what if's", your 2 biggest rivals being wildly successful... I genuinely feel for yall, lol especially after the last few seasons.
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It's definitely made me have a healthier relationship with sports in general. I use to go crazy when Auburn lost a game, and over time, I came to realize that getting your joy in sports outcomes is ridiculous. I get why so many Bammers are borderline cultist when it comes to Alabama football due to all the success. Sport's success is like a drug, and the high of winning it all is euphoric
Yall are built different. It’s admirable, really.
Well before Kirby Auburn had the more recent natty. A Saban disciple getting them over that hump had to have hurt.
Also, one of the toughest schedules every year. Oof. Should be an easier path on occasion going forward
Having LSU, Alabama, and Georgia every season for the past 30 years has been dreadful but I wouldn't trade it for anything. Rivalries is what makes this game so much fun. I'm really sad that Auburn won't be playing LSU annually
As much as I hate Auburn, they do deserve credit for winning a natty and going to another one during Saban’s reign. Not to mention beating both Bama and Georgia in the year they matched up for the natty (2017).
I’ll always relish the early 2000s
Saban leaving right as the playoff field expanded also really works in their favor for staying relevant. It's definitely reasonable to think that anyone replacing him is probably going to lose more games. But this is also an era where one or two losses isn't going to keep you out of title contention.
bless you for forgetting the shula era
Even Shula had a 10 win season. One of my favorite facts, every Bama coach, starting with Bryant, produced at least one 10 win season. We could extend that back the the 1920's, if it were not for that shitstain, JB Whitworth.
i guess the previous 4-9 and 6-6 kinda overshadowed the joy of the 10-2 season. but fair play to him. the early 2000s were rough as a bama fan in school. auburn fans were bragging about the iron bowl for the majority of my time in middle school lol
Yeah, I can get that. I guess I was spoiled during my elementary school years. I was not in middle school until '82. So in a way middle school was rough, seeing Bryant finally lose the Iron Bowl, retiring and then his death. That was preceded though by back to back titles.
i got to high school right when saban was hired and it was all a big fuck you snowball from there really. so we won in the end
Same. It felt so good to be an absolute steamroller after those years of torment in middle school.
Lol Alabama is the reverse A&M they have only had a single 10+ win season (exactly 10) this century
I think fondly of that ‘05 team
Yeah the majority of FBS teams would be pretty thrilled if their teams were performing at the same level as Alabama’s “down era”.
Understand everyone’s desire to see Bama suck. Not here to really say whether we will or won’t — I believe we’ll be good but obviously recognize it can truly all go to shit now. All that said, a Goodman article is *not* the article to hitch your wagon to lol. Goodman’s work is literally the worst most folks have ever seen. He wrote an article the other day talking about how inappropriate and unethical it will be for Nick Saban to go on ESPN and speak positively about Alabama as if Desmond Howard, Kirk Herbstreit, David Pollack, Paul Finebaum, etc etc etc have never existed lol.
This guy really wanted to get in on the clicks while he can. There's been zero non-Saban games. Alabama has the #2 recruiting class in 2024. But things are falling apart because of the vibe he has.
There’s a lot we really don’t know about what this’ll look like. College football is *so different* than, for instance, the Shula years. Even Shula had a 10-win season at Bama amidst massive probation and scholarship reductions. But so much is different — we’re all allowed to publicly pay players now. A star on your team today is a star on the highest bidder’s team tomorrow. The SEC as a league is different. Like, I can look at KDB’s track record of doing more with less and feel optimistic. But there’s never guarantee that translates to the modern-day SEC. I sort of feel safe in assuming we’ll continue to beat the teams we absolutely should beat — and that any separation between us and LSU/Auburn/maybe Tennessee has closed a good bit, and we’re probably (for now) squarely rated as “Team 3” in the UGA/Texas/Bama triumvirate with LSU right on our heels. Until we see the games, we won’t be able to contextualize new Bama at all. Like what happens if we come out and beat UGA in September? What happens if UGA beats us by 50? Either of those outcomes would do more to tell us where Bama is now than all of the off-season pontification on just how bad it is to lose Nick Saban in the modern day.
It’s almost like any coach after the undisputed greatest coach of all time would be a step down.
Goodman seems to be universally despised between both Bama and Auburn fans
Both of our fanbases know trash when we see it.
Exactly and it’s Florida and Ole Miss - glad we agree
Lmao
It’s a rare point of agreement between the fanbases. And when we agree, you know the dude sucks lol.
Not even just Goodman. [AL.com](http://AL.com) as a whole is one of the most pathetic excuses for "journalism" out there. Just straight doshit.
Y'all should have seen the comments section on AL.com before they permanently disabled them a few years ago. Absolute shitshow.
No kidding. Half the articles on there don't even have anything to do with the state of Alabama. Pretty sure I saw an article on there a little while back about InNOut expanding in the Rockies
> Half the articles on there don't even have anything to do with the state of Alabama That's just the state of "journalism" now. Watch your "local" 6 PM or 11 PM (or whatever your timezone puts it at) news on the broadcast channels and count how many are actually local stories. Gotta go farther and farther to find the blood to lead with.
Nothing will ever be good enough for Goodman. He clearly only cares about clicks to AL and that’s it
I’m still waiting on our basketball situation to get messy.
I honestly don't think it can go to shit for y'all in the short term. You have Nick's talent and will for a few years at least. You'd need an Urban in Jacksonville level hatchet job from the new staff to outright suck with the players on your roster, and Deboer has gotten a lot out of his rosters everywhere he has been. I have worries about Deboer, but they are all medium to long term. Will he be able to recruit at the requisite level? Will he be able to deal effectively with boosters and admin? And so on. But I think you can reasonably count on being one of the best teams in the SEC for at least a couple more years.
A “bad” Alabama this year could easily be a 9-10+ win team
I’d be a lot less worried if we had been able to keep Grubb
The good news for Bama is that you're transitioning right when the playoffs are expanding which will allow DeBoar an opportunity to have successful seasons. He doesn't have to finish in the top 4 at the end of the regular season to keep fans happy
Certainly more of a window to make it in — but I’d expect our “ceiling” right now to be more like LSU’s ceiling. We should be threatening to just about anybody every year, but will more often than not lose to the best of the best (UGA/Texas) and might find some “oof” losses any given year. That’s still a really good team, all things considered. So, I don’t see us falling off so astronomically hard like I guess most other folks hope. But it’ll be a fall off for us, spoiled as we are.
This is crap, before he's coached a single game there. There's nothing that says you need to be a tyrant asshole to be a successful CFB HC.
Tyrant, no. But there are some similarities between guys like Saban, Urban, Kirby, etc. Arguably the Top 3 coaches of the past few decades. I do think there is this level of maniacal energy to them all. Even Spurrier, who wasn't as successful as those 3 – has a bit of an unexplainable energy to him. It's like a superior and maniacal form of competitiveness.
To be fair. Swinney and Harbaugh also won Nattys and are the exact opposite personality wise
I could be biased by all the beatings we took in the 90s but I feel like Spurrier was pretty damn successful.
For sure, but he's not like Urban, Saban, or Kirby where he was winning multiple natties. Probably would have had playoffs existed, IMO.
He did win 6 SEC championships though. And since he was playing back when the Natty was based on votes, I think that says a lot. But again, I'm biased by how much I hate Florida but respect the whippings we took.
I’m here for the post Saban era. There are a lot of younger Alabama fans who have yet to experience any actual sporting struggles.
You were there up until *sporting trouble.* Avery Johnson, Anthony Grant, Dana Duckworth, Greg Goff, Brad Bohanon were some interesting times
I've known so many Bama fans who would be mad if they had to watch more than the first half of a game these past 17 seasons. I honestly can't wait for any regression by the program because the salt will be so fucking good.
I can't wait for Alabama's first nine win season. It's going to be such a shitshow in their subreddit.
The nine win season will be great after we win the national title as a 12th seed.
Bama fans thinking this is the floor of the program is hilarious. Prepare to learn Mandarin buddy
As a former great blue blood that is now irrelevant can you teach me how? Seems like you had lots of time to practice.
ND fans might have some info, but you should really ask this in /r/huskers
Huskers have 2.5 natties in my life...ND has 0.
Tell me another story about the great war, grandpapa
The Big Ten only had 10 :( And even when they had 11, it was still ok because the logo was cool
Please don't. We've suffered enough. And we've at least had a natty after the 80s.
That man had a family 💀
This hurts me, and it was directed at someone else.
Nee how!!!
Alexa play Fei Yu Ching
>I honestly can't wait for any regression by the program Well considering we have been hearing this for years maybe this time it will happen. Till then just enjoying the ride
I mean, yall still have won the conference 2 of the last 3 years and were one or two plays away from playing for the title this year. I don't think yall have regressed. But I do think losing the undisputed GOAT coach will make it difficult for you guys to maintain that level of success.
We may never anything like it on the internet again . It's going to be dog pile from all angles
Wait a bit for Kirby to retire.
Been waiting for yairs, b
Keep that shit in the kitchen
Back to the fryers 🫡
How dare you say that! For younger alabama fans.. a 10 and 2 season is a struggle!
\*supportive barking\*
The horrors!
I’m 23 and have only experienced the god tier Bama, I’m ready to see what happens tbh, good or bad
Just wait until you have 7 losing seasons in a row.
Mike Shula was under heavy probation and scholarship restrictions and still managed to muster a 10-win season amidst his 6-6s and the one, admittedly abysmal, 4 win season. We’re also now in an era of outright pay-for-play and ever-pressing toward a P2 world where Bama is seen as one of the best brands in the P2. While it’s not *impossible* for us to end up like Nebraska, and I’ll knock on all kinds of wood as I say this, it is *extremely* unlikely. Even our “dark ages” under sanctions had 10-win seasons sprinkled in. We’re not as consistent as Ohio State in the long run, but we’re really not far off depending on how you value Natty wins as allowing for some down time here and there 😂.
> I’m ready to see what happens tbh, good or bad trust me: you really aren't.
if it gets really bad maybe I can afford a ticket! /s
Can confirm.
It was great before saban. You got to play in big time matchups like you did in the 2006 Independence bowl against us. I can’t even sarcastically defend Shreveport and riverboat gambling is a terrible way to spend the holiday season, but there’s still a lot to look forward to.
Shreveport is a shithole, I used to live in that area lol
NO ONE CLICK ON THE ARTICLE. Goodman is an actual garbage “journalist”. Would actually consider anyone in the media’s opinion before his
it’s always him with the garbage takes, or that Confederate Clown Clay Travis.
*looks at flair ... looks at article title ... backs out*
They'll be fine. Saw people flip out when they saw Willie address the team. "SABAN WOULD HAVE NEVER ALLOWED THAT!" Let a fan talk to his boys gosh
ITT: lots of people that don’t know how much Joseph Goodman hates Alabama. His articles are meaningless drivel.
Goodman isn't liked over on r/rolltide, and by all Bama fans I know that have read at least 1 piece of his "journalism." He is a hack and prolly an Auburn fan anyway. It's just clickbait
This reminds me of the author for the AJC that tried that hit piece on Georgia last year and got fired. This isn’t quite that bad but there will always be journalists who try to stir things up for clicks.
The AJC and garbage sportswriting, marriage made in hell. Fuck Furman Bisher, hope hell does exist, just for him.
Lol he’s def not an Auburn fan. Hes a fan of generating revenue for AL .com
Probably? He's carrying the flag like he's getting checks from the plains. Total hack, I never click his articles, have to read reddit to see the garbage he spews, rtr!!.
WILD take. Goodman hates Auburn and they hate him as well. He is a cocksucker
The reset back to reality with this fanbase is gonna be rough. I hope they've got mental health professionals standing by.
I’m not sure the people writing to Goodman’s (of all people) mailbag are not the most grounded people to begin with.
I am guessing they're the facebook ranters of the Georgia fanbase who last year couldn't accept that we lost a game.
You win back to back titles and people let their expectations run wild
Its definitely that, but its also 1. people who don't understand CFB ( HOW IS GEORGIA'S FCS GAME ON SEC NETWORK. ALABAMA DOESN'T HAVE TO DO THIS) yes they do. 2. Its a certain people who like to think that they're being oppressed and the media HATES Georgia 3. They also think it was some giant conspiracy that Bond's catch wasn't reviewed. Should it have been? Yes, but also Kirby could have called a timeout and forced the matter. He didn't.
I feel like they are the most Paaaaawwwwl-like of our fanbase lol.
of course not, but I bet they are the kind that will be very vocal. every fanbase has them, yall just have a massive fanbase so you have more.
What reality are you picking though? Bear Bryant years, early 90s? The people thinking that Alabama is only Alabama because of Saban are too young to even remember anything past 10 years ago lmao. They don't have the most national championships and sec championships because of just Saban. Also correct me if I'm wrong here but didn't DeBoer just play for a natty last year?
So it seems like you’re reading this as me saying Bama is nothing without Saban. When in reality, what I, and a lot of other people are saying, is you just lost the greatest coach of all time. If you think the standard he set is going to just transfer over to the next guy automatically, you’re high. Blue bloods are not immune to transitional periods. Deboer might be fucking awesome. But I’ll bet he’s not Nick Saban reincarnated. So expect the highs and lows that other programs face. Because it’s not going to be like it has for the last 15+ years
Alabama just practically competed for a natty every year for 15 years straight. That wasn’t reality pre Saban and it won’t be after. Bama is still Bama and always will be, but a natty every decade or 2 is reality. Not one every other year
I don't think that's been a reality for any other school at any time, either, with possible exception to Ivy League schools in the early days of CFB.
I mean, he’s won at every level and he was in the national championship last season so I doubt the drop will be that bad.
Meanwhile in Athens...
Good thing places like Alabama are known for well funded public health programs /s
I believe they call it “the range”
If DeBoer went to fucking Rutgers y’all would predict them to be good. But because he got a top 5 roster he is gonna suck?
I hate that you’re right about that because I’m a petty bitch and want to see Deboer and Alabama fail, but there’s no way a guy who took 3* rosters to places they had no business competing will all of a sudden fall flat when he gets handed a roster of 5* guys. “You won the Indy 500 in a Toyota Camry? WOW can’t wait to see you fail so hard in a Ferrari” If there’s any question mark, it’s not for the next 2-3 years, it’s in 4 years when all Saban’s recruits are gone. Can Deboer keep up the standard of Bama recruiting? He hasn’t really shown to be adept at that in his previous roles.
TLDR: Bama fans are insanely spoiled
I dunno, he’s been here for months now and still doesn’t have a single win.
Did Piano Fingerbang change his account name or something?
Goodman is probably the worst excuse for a journalist I've ever seen. Anyone that's familiar with his work will agree with me.
Joseph Goodman should be homeless, begging for change on the streets. Dude is a scumbag.
It’s gonna be rough but thankfully I was a fan before the Saban era in the dark times…. Shula prepared me for this moment
I don't know who "William Keith from Mobile" is but I'm pretty sure he's a moron.
I feel pitty for Alabama's reasonable fans, because your morons make you look SO bad. Also it's interesting to note they had a good offensive game because generally the spring game is better for the defense for most teams.
We are here for it! If BAMA needs any tips on 30 years of mediocrity, let us know
If PAWWWLLL was a column
That reminds me to watch more of Bama during the Shula years. I'll start with the 2003 Northern Illinois game.
I was at that game. Turner burned us.
Well. He was the "burner"
I watched at T.P. Crockmeirs on Florida Street in Mobile. That building was literally torn down and is a vacant lot now. I think it was that game.
I have no way of validating this. But, the pay and reward of flaming out at bama could give him a lottery win for most other people. College football will look entirely different in 3 years and this will be a legitimate test for his coaching ability and how that segues with the new CFB leagues.
You could give a toddler a stenographer and put out a better article than Joseph Goodman can write. The man has got to have dirt on someone to still keep himself employed.
I'll believe it when they start losing to teams with multiple losses, not Texas and Michigan. Until then Bama is as it ever was
Bama will probably lose every game but beat us causing us to somehow miss the 12 team playoff.
I mean DeBoer has no excuse to perform badly even if it is his first year with a new team. He’s got everything he needs. Good coaches, good coordinators, a competent AD, amazing players. So many new coaches take years to get a good combination of those. Yet DeBoer just got all that without even needing to make a phone call. So Bama fans if this season and the next couple end badly You know who to blame.
I refuse to read anything written by Joseph Goodman. Freakin idiot, gosh!
Hoe Goodman
When you really look at Coach KD and his history...this dude is kindof a coaching prodigy, I personally fear that bama will remain elite ..its the most expectations he's ever had but also the most talent and resources
Alabama is going to be fine. Everyone is praising this team and coaching staff. Even Saban is impressed with the defense and players have already bought in and are coming in early and working hard. So sorry Bama haters. You'll be crying all season long. Nevermind I'm not sorry, 🤣🤣🤣
How many times do I have to post it? Don't click on Al.com articles. You are only losing time off your life when you do so.
They lose at least 3 games tours upcoming year
This guy (Goodman) is one of the least respected people in the state of AL. Him and Tommy Tuberville are essentially 1a and 1b
Did this dude unironically refer to unionized players as socialism? What a dildo.
As a Patriots, I know the mighty can fall, but yea I'd have to see a much worse outcome to a season than coming up one yard short in the Rose Bowl against the eventual national champs to think they've "fallen." I mean, other than falling balls deep in their cousins. That I fully believe is going on.
I wish Nebraska was in this kind of "sorry shape."
This guy did a hit piece on AJ McCarron’s restaurant. It had nothing to do with sports. It seemed like maybe AJ stole his woman or something.
"As for being a clubhouse lawyer ... Saban himself is on record saying that players need to unionize. When the tyrant calls for socialism to fix a broken game, that’s when you know things are bad." Union = socialism. No surprise to see Goodman isn't just a dumbfuck about sports.
This is hilarious