Stephen A. Smith: Alabama should beg Nick Saban to 'save the program' from Kalen DeBoer

Stephen A. Smith sees a lot of problems at Alabama and knows of only one answer for them down in T-Town.

Smith, along with Paul Finebaum and Shannon Sharpe, debated the current state of the Crimson Tide following their 24-3 upset loss at Oklahoma on Saturday. He looked at it, along with the rest of their season, as a very disappointing debut for Kalen DeBoer.

“What has happened this season with Kalen DeBoer?” Smith asked this morning on ‘First Take’.

“You lost as No. 1 to Vanderbilt? That’s the first time you lost to Vanderbilt in 40 years. You lost to Vanderbilt, you lost a thriller to Tennessee. You’ve got three losses now,” said Smith. “You’re not going to compete for the SEC Championship. You’re not going to make the College Football Playoff, okay.”

It’s not necessarily even as much about the losses, though. ‘Bama has lost at least two games in each of the past four season, albeit two of those nine have been while in the playoff. However, it’s the way in which the Tide have lost these three regular-season games that has been more of a concern for Smith.

“It’s not about losses all the time. It’s how you lose, the absence of attention to detail, you know. Like, you talk about the effort,” said Smith. “I’m just saying. The mentality that you’ve brought from the Pacific Northwest at Washington? That don’t work in the SEC, especially at Alabama in succeeding Nick Saban who paid minute attention to everything. That cannot happen! But it has and they don’t look good at all.”

So, with that, Smith’s thought is the one that many down in Tuscaloosa have already considered – Nick Saban. After not being retired for a full year, Smith thinks Alabama’s fanbase has to convince him to leave his new job to come back to the sidelines of Bryant-Denny Stadium.

“You succeeded Nick Saban…This is in the immediate aftermath of Nick Saban’s departure,” said Smith. “As far as I’m concerned, Alabama fans everywhere? They should be begging Nick Saban to quit College GameDay – because he’s doing a great job. Convince him, beg him to quit the damn show, okay, and go back to Alabama right now and save this program from an abyss.”

To be clear, Saban is likely not a serious solution for Alabama. Still, Smith says something needs to be done with how the Crimson Tide have played so far under DeBoer.

“Kalen DeBoer in the SEC? I’m not feeling him, y’all. I’m just not feeling him,” said Smith. “Roll Tide my behind. I mean this is bad. Roll Tide? You ain’t gonna here me say that again. I’m ashamed of what we’ve seen. Roll over, Tide. Roll over, Tide. How about that? It’s bad. It’s bad.”

“I’m very disappointed in Alabama. They don’t deserve to make the playoffs. I don’t want to hear about them being in the College Football Playoff. They’re not one of the top-twelve teams,” Smith said. “Take your ass home! Go home, stay there, and lick your wounds. Goodbye!”