Stephen A. Smith questions Kalen DeBoer's ability to lead Alabama, believes Dan Lanning would do better

Alabama dropped its rivalry game against Tennessee on Saturday, falling to 1-2 in its past three games in the process. The Crimson Tide are now 2-2 in the SEC at the halfway point of league play, and first-year head coach Kalen DeBoer is receiving plenty of criticism.

ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith added to that Monday morning on First Take and questioned if DeBoer is the right guy for the Alabama job.

“I’m sort of disgusted from what I’ve seen from Alabama. I mean the hell with Roll Tide. We can’t say Roll Tide,” Stephen A. Smith said. “Listen, Kalen DeBoer doesn’t seem like the right man for the job. This is a man that’s won at every level. … But this dude is no Nick Saban. Boy do we miss Nick Saban.

“If I was Alabama, I’d beg Nick Saban to leave College Football GameDay and come back in the middle of the damn season.”

Part of the reason Stephen A. Smith is frustrated is because ever since the second half of the Georgia game, Alabama has looked like a different team.

Even during a home game against South Carolina, the Crimson Tide were fortunate to escape with a win.

Smith believes Alabama should have found a way to hire Oregon head coach Dan Lanning, although Lanning has said multiple times that he was not going to leave Oregon for Alabama.

“I’m so disgusted with what I’ve seen. … It looks like they hired the wrong guy. They should’ve went and got Dan Lanning from Oregon,” Stephen A. Smith said. “The personality, to go from Nick Saban to DeBoer, it just seems like night and day. The level of accountability, the defense, the fluidity. I mean the roughriders, you don’t seem to be there.

“Listen, it’s bad. Because not only do they have two losses in the last three weeks, they should’ve lost to South Carolina. They should’ve lost three straight. I’m very, very disgusted. … It almost seems like the AD said, ‘You know what, I’ve been so exhausted dealing with Saban over the years, I need somebody that’s a bit more pleasant and ain’t going to hold me too accountable’ or something. I just don’t like what I’m seeing at Alabama right now. I’m very disgusted.”