Happy Friday, everyone. What has to have been the most challenging week of Kalen DeBoer’s college football coaching career comes to an end tomorrow as Alabama takes the field again in the home opener against, of all schools, Louisiana-Monroe. Understandably, not much attention is being paid to a game featuring a Sun Belt team vs a fringe top 25.
Will effort improve?
Alabama wasn’t good enough in this area on a consistent basis. Without re-hashing it all, you didn’t have to be a football guru to see
the effort wasn’t up to par at times in the loss to the Seminoles.
“We’re certainly disappointed in some effort situations that happened,” Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer said, speaking specifically about the defense Monday. “They came in different ways, and some of it’s just flat out, gotta pursue. Gotta get there. And it surprises you sometimes when it happens, especially with certain guys because of the effort that they put out.”
An effort problem is concerning, but the good thing about an effort problem is it’s fixable, in theory. Effort is one of the few things that can be controlled by each player every single play. But will Alabama actually do it?
As has been the theme around here all week, show us on Saturday. And, more importantly, show us when SEC play starts. This team and coaching staff has deserved every bit of the noise that has come their way this week. Hopefully they heard it and will use it as fuel.
If you are going to the game, and there are plenty of very cheap tickets available on the secondary market, here is a game day guide for you.
Upgrades to in-stadium Wi-Fi, free and available to all, and an updated UA Gameday site are among positive tweaks for fall 2025, they said. The site, which includes links to download the UA Gameday app, supplies information about tailgating, traffic, parking and more, Frenz said.
“There’s a very interactive map that’s there,” he said, “if you want to see things on campus like the bus routes, or tailgating on the Quad, or the storm shelters in case of emergency, inclement weather; pretty much anything you would need to know on a game day.”
Alabama is expected to bounce back in this one due to the quality of the opponent. Kalen DeBoer has typically done well following a loss.
DeBoer hadn’t lost very much before becoming the head coach of Alabama football. But when DeBoer’s teams did lose, they usually knew how to respond.
As head coach at Sioux Falls, Fresno State and Washington, eight of their 12 losses came in the regular season. In games immediately after those eight losses, a DeBoer-led team lost only twice: a 2020 Fresno State loss to New Mexico, and a 2022 Washington loss to Arizona State — the only two losing streaks of DeBoer’s career as a head coach.
Creg Stephenson dove into the other times that Alabama has lost season openers. Most of those seasons didn’t turn out particularly well, but those who want to hold out hope for the season can point to 1975.
Missouri 20, Alabama 7 (1975)
If you’re the optimistic sort, you can take heart in the way the 1975 Alabama team rebounded after a shocking non-conference loss in its season-opener. The second-ranked Crimson Tide fell flat against the Tigers (then a member of the Big 8) on Labor Day night at Legion Field, gaining just 118 total yards and turning the ball over three times. “You kicked the hell out of us,” Bryant told Missouri coach Al Onofrio at midfield after the game. The Tigers, who would go on to finish 6-5 that year, had been a three-touchdown underdog coming in.
Alabama righted the ship quickly and decisively, however, winning its next six games by an average of 39 points. The Crimson Tide then finished the regular season by beating Mississippi State, LSU, Southern Miss and Auburn (28-0 in Ralph “Shug” Jordan’s final game) in succession before outlasting Penn State 13-6 in the Sugar Bowl to finish 11-1. Alabama was SEC champion for the fifth straight year and ended up No. 3 nationally behind 11-1 Oklahoma and 12-0 Arizona State.
Urban Meyer notes that a bounceback will be driven by player leadership more than coaches, if that leadership exists in the Alabama locker room.
Meyer believes Alabama’s locker room could use the kind of leadership Ohio State’s locker room showed Ryan Day in the wake of their 13-10 loss to the Michigan Wolverines at the “Shoe” in Week 14.
“I saw signs that there’s something either in a locker room, there’s something — I made this comment on Big Noon. He better have some grown ass men in that locker room. Ryan Day, when they lost to the Wolverines last year, they flipped it around. You know why? Everybody gives the coaches credit. I get it. But in that locker room were some grown ass men that weren’t going to put up with that,” Meyer said.
“A coach is a coach. I get it. But, at some point, those veterans — and I use the term ‘grown ass men’ — better show up in that locker room and get that right. Coaches can’t get that right. Coaches do the best they can, but players play.”
Last, hopefully Kalen fully understands the importance of Alabama football’s success to the community.
Football season amplifies this impact, with the city doubling in size on game days, becoming the largest city in the state.
“Downtown fully transforms with just droves of people as they’re walking down the street,” said Hayes. “It’s really great seeing from City Hall the amount of people that are coming and investing in our community that are coming for game day, and it’s great. The atmosphere is different. Everybody’s happy. I rise ready to go. It’s just the best time of year.”
The economic impact study shows an average investment of $29.9 million per game, with the total statewide impact of the seven home football games reaching $209 million.
Alabama football irrelevance has a cost far higher than his coaching buyout, which would be paid in monthly installments over six years. It is a step that the University would rather not have to take, but the leash isn’t going to be long if Alabama ends up with another mediocre season.
That’s about it for today. Have a great weekend.
Roll Tide.
