Alabama HC Kalen DeBoer against Vanderbilt on Oct. 5, 2024. Alabama HC Kalen DeBoer against Vanderbilt on Oct. 5, 2024. (Steve Roberts/Imagn Images.)

After Alabama defeated Georgia in a thrilling primetime game, new coach Kalen DeBoer was riding high. What followed has been a nose dive back to earth. And it’s left the number one authority on Alabama football and the SEC in Paul Finebaum very skeptical.

Since that game, Alabama has lost their first game to Vanderbilt since 1984, scraped by at home against an unimpressive South Carolina team, and lost another game at Tennessee. They now sit at 14th in the AP Poll, which amounts to a crisis situation compared to what Crimson Tide fans have been used to under Nick Saban.

How are Alabama fans taking it? There’s no better representative to find out than ESPN and SEC Network guru Paul Finebaum. And in an interview with On3’s Andy Staples and Ari Wasserman, he said he was “not that impressed” with Kalen DeBoer’s start in Tuscaloosa.

“The DeBoer transition was seamless… he just hasn’t, he’s a good coach, but I don’t think he’s commanded the stage very well,” Finebaum said.

“I’ve been to Alabama twice in about two weeks now and there’s a level of impatience with him. Some of it’s natural, it’s post-Saban. His demeanor on the sidelines bugs people, his lack of discipline, some of the things that he says and does, his coaching staff has not warmed well. But having said all that, it’s really going to come down to next week.”

“Should he lose to LSU, that game will determine what we say about him in the offseason. I am not that impressed so far, how about that,” Finebaum added.

What makes things exponentially harder for DeBoer is that Saban is quite literally hanging over his shoulder at every step, presenting a constant reminder of what once was with Alabama. DeBoer was never going to match Saban’s resume as the Crimson Tide head coach. That would be next to impossible.

However, DeBoer clearly hasn’t helped himself when it comes to making a first impression since moving from Washington to Alabama. When you consider what his players have uncharacteristically done on the field too, whether it’s throwing tantrums or shooting jump shots for some strange reason, it all adds up to an already pressure packed situation.

And as Paul Finebaum says, if Kalen DeBoer and the Tide lose to LSU and slip further down the rankings, the pressure is only going to increase.

[On3]