Football
Having failed to secure a spot in the 12-team College Football Playoff on the field, Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer has been relegated to talking his way into the national championship picture.
On Tuesday, DeBoer appeared on “The Pat McAfee Show” to stump for the Tide after they ended their regular season with a 28-14 win over Auburn in Week 14.
By finishing outside the top two in the SEC standings, Alabama can’t clinch an automatic playoff berth by winning the conference championship game. Instead, the Tide’s fate is in the hands of the selection committee.
While DeBoer’s defense of his team is expected, it rings hollow.
It also highlights his failure in Year 1 in Tuscaloosa.
“We’re what you’re looking for when it comes to playing at that championship level.”@AlabamaFTBL HC Kalen DeBoer tells @PatMcAfeeShow he believes the Tide are one of the best 12 teams in the country ✍️ pic.twitter.com/3LN0M2CcQM
— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) December 3, 2024
When explaining why his team belongs in the CFP field, DeBoer told McAfee, “I think we have all those character traits that you need as a team. I mean, we have the explosiveness, we have the physicality. You know, we’re very balanced as a football team.”
If that’s true, DeBoer is a worse coach than we thought. A team as purportedly talented and championship-caliber as DeBoer believes Alabama to be doesn’t have any business losing to inferior competition, including Vanderbilt and Oklahoma, by 26 points combined.
His defense of quarterback Jalen Milroe makes us wonder what the point of even playing the games is.
DeBoer praised Milroe, saying he’s “as good as anyone in the country. He’s elite, and anytime he’s got the ball in his hands, you got a chance to hit a home run.”
The SEC is the only conference in the country where teams expect to be rewarded as much for their potential as their actual achievements.
Milroe looked great in wins against LSU, Georgia and Auburn, rushing for 406 yards and scoring 11 total touchdowns, but struggled against Oklahoma, Tennessee and Vanderbilt, scoring three touchdowns and throwing six interceptions while gaining 28 yards on 36 carries.
According to DeBoer, the committee should ignore the handful of games Milroe underperformed and only look at what he accomplished in wins.
It would be one thing if Bama’s losses came in the first half of the season and it peaked down the stretch. But two of the Tide’s losses came during the season’s second half, including an ugly 24-3 road loss to Oklahoma, which only won one other SEC game this season, in Week 13.
If the Tide belonged in the CFP, they would have shown us on the field, not have DeBoer tell us they do.
Read More Qiana Klemp