Paul Finebaum: Alabama way is 'really a mess' under Kalen DeBoer

Kalen DeBoer and Alabama were receiving plenty of praise after the Crimson Tide beat Georgia at the end of September. Needless to say, things have changed quickly following a loss to Vanderbilt this past weekend.

Everyone seems to be piling on DeBoer and the Crimson Tide right now, including ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum, who said that the program is a mess right now under DeBoer.

Finebaum joined SportsCenter on Monday and was asked if the Alabama way is fine or not fine at the moment.

“It is so not fine. It is really a mess,” Paul Finebaum said. “And I realize a week ago we were sitting here praising Kalen DeBoer and his football team, but everything that could go wrong did.”

The most concerning aspect of the game to Finebaum is the fact that there was nothing fluky about the win. Vanderbilt outgained the Crimson Tide 418 to 394 and had 26 first downs, compared to 17 for Alabama. The Commodores were also 12 of 18 on third downs and rushed for 166 yards, compared to 84 for Alabama.

“There were just so many mistakes made, especially defensively,” Paul Finebaum said. “I mean Vanderbilt out-physicaled Alabama. Nobody has ever made that statement before, at least not who isn’t 80 years old.”

Stephen A Smith to Kalen DeBoer: ‘You are no Nick Saban’

Paul Finebaum was far from the only one at ESPN to go after Kalen DeBoer on Monday. ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith blasted DeBoer Monday morning on ESPN First Take.

“Kalen DeBoer, it’s fair to say this, you won 90 percent of your games as a head coach at four different institutions, including winning two NAIA titles. You were in the national championship game. You were the back-to-back Pac-12 Coach of the Year when you were at Washington, as well,” Smith said. “You are no Nick Saban. You are no Nick Saban.”

Kalen DeBoer is in his first season as the Alabama head coach after leading Washington to the College Football Playoff and national championship game last year.

The Crimson Tide earned a huge win over Georgia on Sept. 28 and DeBoer received plenty of praise. But after a letdown the following week, DeBoer is getting crushed by critics, including Stephen A Smith. He added that he started having concerns about DeBoer during the win over Georgia because Alabama blew a huge lead.

“I didn’t like the fact that you gave up a 28-0 lead and let Georgia come back before Jalen Milroe pulled off a miracle the way that he did last week. I didn’t like that,” Smith said. “But to go to Nashville, Tennessee, to play against a Vanderbilt school that was 0-60 against top 25 opponents… they were on a 23-game losing streak to Alabama. And you roll up to Nashville and you go up against Vanderbilt, and you lose to them, who were 2-2.

“I mean it is disgraceful. It is embarrassing. And you clearly, clearly was feeling yourself from the Georgia [win]. You went in there and you did something a Nick Saban team never did, which was take an opponent for granted. He didn’t allow it. Times are different.”