šŸˆ šŸ”„ Hot Seat 2025 / Coaching Carousel: Alabama adds key personnel "behind the scenes."

ElephantStomp said:
The fans run off a good coach in DeBoer and you think this thing becomes ā€œattractiveā€? Iā€™m afraid youā€™re wrong.
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What I meant was this jobā€™s appeal will increase when the expectations are recalibrated to our NIL budget. And by ā€œexpectationsā€ I mean that of both fans and the media. Now I will admit that I suspect most of the negative reaction I see from media criticism is insincere. Itā€™s fake outrage or fake astonishment of Bamaā€™s decline intended to attract attention, clicks, and follows from (a) spoiled Bama fans still shocked by the rapid fall to mediocrity, and (b) rival fans reveling in the fall of the dynasty and greater opportunity for their favorite team. My point is any coach wants maximum resources with minimal pressure, and it may take DeBoerā€™s departure and another HC after him before the pressure from media and fans is commensurate with our resources.
 
ElephantStomp said:
but there has to be realistic expectations
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Agreed, but the business model of media is to be UNrealistic. Itā€™s to generate an audience, hence the tactics of Finebaum and others of his ilk. Hot takes. Hasty conclusions. Predicting the future. Etc. One of the few things that really benefits from a realistic and reasonable assessment of how Bama fits in with the current landscape is the stress levels of the Bama HC. Thatā€™s the irony: nearly everything in the economy of big time college football benefits from the extreme and delusional expectations of fans, except the health and job stability of coaches.
 
BamaFan334 said:
Lose by less than an ass whooping. Not unrealistic or far fetched to want that atleast.
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I empathize for sure. But you have to admit, the undefeated records against LSU, Auburn, and UGA (postseason notwithstanding) were critical in establishing DeBoer's legitimacy in the SEC. Yes, he took Wash to the natty, but there was skepticism surrounding their path that year. Blowouts in highly visible games against UGA and IU certainly hurt. BUT I would still prefer the current results over, say, narrow postseason losses to UGA and IU and splitting the regular season matchups against LSU, Auburn, and UGA these last two seasons. The UGA loss was almost meaningless and arguably gave us the easiest path to the natty. And the IU blowout would have hurt more if IU didn't finish 16-0.
 
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musso said:
I empathize for sure. But you have to admit, the undefeated records against LSU, Auburn, and UGA (postseason notwithstanding) were critical in establishing DeBoer's legitimacy in the SEC. Yes, he took Wash to the natty, but there was skepticism surrounding their path that year. Blowouts in highly visible games against UGA and IU certainly hurt. BUT I would still prefer the current results over, say, narrow postseason losses to UGA and IU and splitting the regular season matchups against LSU, Auburn, and UGA these last two seasons. The UGA loss was almost meaningless and arguably gave us the easiest path to the natty. And the IU blowout would have hurt more if IU didn't finish 16-0.
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I'm not saying you're wrong. Beating Georgia in Athens was top drawer. Beating LSU and Auburn this year was nothing out of this world due to their lack of enthusiasm. Heck, everyone else beat them. They were beat before they showed up, but we dang sure let LSU hang around.

I'll say this again, I like DeBoer. I'm not sold on him being "the man", but I'm ok watching him build something if he shows me he's trying to make positive changes. The offensive line coach move was the right move. Losing the portal was not a great move. There is a delicate balance between talent and coaching. Can have the best coaches in the world, but not having the talent will have you falling short. Can have all the talent, but if you don't have good leaders to direct them it won't happen either.

A guy making $10M a year gets a short leash with me. Four years is all I'm giving a guy, and at that price, at our university, with our facilities and support, I expect us to make the Playoffs every year and host a game atleast every other year. We should be a Top 12 program no matter what our schedule is every year. That's not unrealistic like a few keep flapping their gums about. And it's ok to expect that when we keep giving and giving. I want value is all, that's not crazy to desire.
 
BamaFan334 said:
I want value is all, that's not crazy to desire.
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Totally agree with your sentiment. But I've come to believe that DeBoer is the best value we could have gotten following Saban in this era. Now if/when the NCAA is replaced with something fairer and uniform for all, we can revisit and reevaluate our HC options. Let's face it, few (if any) elite coaches would want to come to Bama under the present rules.
 
musso said:
Totally agree with your sentiment. But I've come to believe that DeBoer is the best value we could have gotten following Saban in this era. Now if/when the NCAA is replaced with something fairer and uniform for all, we can revisit and reevaluate our HC options. Let's face it, few (if any) elite coaches would want to come to Bama under the present rules.
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But who wouldn't for $10M? Sign that and a massive buyout? Sounds like building a future to me. Almost a can't lose situation.
 
BamaFan334 said:
I personally don't think any of the fanbase truly knows.
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No reason to think too much; no one knows. Hell, coaching staffs across the nation still are unsure how they'll handle aspects of the '27 class.

This begs the question. If the fans don't know, you and I included here, what's this?

BamaFan334 said:
Losing the portal was not a great move.
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If you don't know the W, how can it be an L?
 
mando said:
The Bama expectation of excellence should never waiver.
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I would say fan support for excellence should never waiver. But our expectations should be informed by things like how much more other schools are paying their players and coaching staffs. If our expectations ignore these factors then Bama will return to being a revolving door of coaches and players.
 
Nothing_But_A_Winner00 said:
Too young at the time and don't know that history. Thanks for sharing.
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The Internet was in its infancy.

When Stallings retired a lot in the fan base wanted Mike DuBose as head coach. Bockrath, with the spine of a limb off of a Weeping Willow, had his fax machine inundated with fans telling him "hire Mike." With Hootie and now Stallings out of the building there wasn't a "man" around the program. Opinions, in the form of faxed letters, swayed decisions and led to DuBose getting the job.

(I think Cam put more effort into his "business decision/tackle" a few years ago for the Panthers than Bockrath spent on that coaching search. I think I've spent more energy flicking a piece of lint off of a sweater. )
 
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