Stephen A. Smith to Kalen DeBoer: 'You are no Nick Saban'

Alabama suffered a stunning loss to Vanderbilt over the weekend, leading to plenty of criticism for Kalen DeBoer and the Crimson Tide. ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith blasted DeBoer Monday morning on ESPN First Take.

Smith pointed out that DeBoer may have a very impressive resume, but it’s clear after the loss to Vanderbilt over the weekend that he is not on the same level as Nick Saban as a coach.

“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.”

Perhaps Kalen DeBoer can get Alabama back on track and the Crimson Tide can even still compete for a national title this season. But Stephen A Smith has some serious doubts after Saturday.

“Kalen DeBoer had an opportunity to really establish ‘it’s a new era in Tuscaloosa’ and he dropped the ball. This is a disgrace, horrible,” Smith said. “What a disgraceful loss. It’s not going to happen, but if Alabama ends up missing the playoffs because of this I wouldn’t blame them.”