Paul Finebaum: Kalen DeBoer showed that the Nick Saban era is over with loss to Vanderbilt

Paul Finebaum stated the obvious: the Nick Saban era is over at Alabama after Kalen DeBoer’s first loss as Crimson Tide head coach.

There was a lot of talk about how Saban wouldn’t have lost the game against Vanderbilt Saturday night. But, we can’t play hypotheticals here.

One thing’s for sure, reality certainly set in with DeBoer, who will now have to rally the troops after going from the No. 1 to 7 team in the country in just one week.

“Well, we saw a new head coach in Alabama named Kalen DeBoer, who, after all the praise he got here last week, showed that the Nick Saban era is over, because Nick Saban would have never lost that game,” Finebaum said on The Matt Barrie Show.

“And  people talk about the Louisiana-Monroe game, you know, (Saban) inherited a 6-7 team. This is the worst loss I have ever seen by a quality Alabama team. I’ve seen bad Alabama teams lose … but I’ve never seen a great Alabama team lose like this, and it is sending shockwaves through the Alabama ecosystem right now.”

Kalen DeBoer gets first shock to the system at Alabama

DeBoer and Alabama were coming off an epic victory over Georgia last week to become the top team in the country. This was a stark contrast. 

“Because for all the good that we felt a week ago, the questions that were lingering deep in the crevices of Alabama fans’ minds are starting to pop up,” Finebaum said. “And people are reminding us that even at Washington, you saw these very bizarre calls. And you know what I’m talking about. I think there was a game against Arizona State. Was it last year? There were other games that Washington barely escaped. So yeah, there’s a shock to the system.” 

DeBoer’s won everywhere he’s gone and is currently 4-1 at Alabama. It’s one game, but it feels a lot heavier in Tuscaloosa than Seattle.

“And what makes it even worse is Alabama has to play again this week against a fading South Carolina team,” Finebaum said. “But the week after, it’s against Tennessee.”

DeBoer won’t dwell on this game for too long, as he echoed that message to his players.

“But the guys in the locker room, you just talk about there is only one option, it’s to move forward,” DeBoer said postgame. “It’s to get back to work. I feel we’ve got a great football team. We weren’t at our best today, and we’re gonna find out really how much we care about each other and what it looks like moving forward. 

“We’ve been tested different ways really in a lot of the games here this season, and this is a different type of test for us now and our response.”