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You won’t find many people, whether they be Alabama lifers or relatively new to the Crimson Tide football bandwagon, who were satisfied with Kalen DeBoer’s freshman season on the sidelines in Tuscaloosa.
Finishing 9-4 in a vacuum, of course, isn’t exactly cause to go pull fire alarms and shriek at the top of your lungs. There are plenty of programs that would be thrilled with that performance – especially facing the toughest competition in the nation week after week in the Southeastern Conference. Auburn, for instance, has only won 9 games twice in the past 11 seasons.
But 9-4 won’t cut it Alabama. Not this year, not any year now that Nick Saban has set the standard so preposterously high via 6 national championships and 9 SEC crowns in 17 seasons. Fair or not, DeBoer walked into what can confidently be called an unwinnable situation – unwinnable, of course, unless he won every game in the 2024 season.
That didn’t happen. And because 3 of the 4 losses came to unranked teams (Vanderbilt, Oklahoma and Michigan in the ReliaQuest Bowl), the scrutiny will be intense on DeBoer and the Crimson Tide coaching staff heading into 2025. That’s the thing about standards: No one calls them standards if they are average, and there were more than enough times when Alabama looked average in 2024.
Where to begin? Here’s a guide …
1. Player discipline
Saban was a legendary taskmaster, with seemingly every minute and detail planned out for players and staff. Although that can be exhausting, especially as players gain more flexibility to rebel via the transfer portal, it is clear that The Process bore out results.
DeBoer certainly isn’t a Process disciple, and player discipline – on the field and reportedly off it – almost immediately suffered in 2024. The Crimson Tide averaged 8.9 penalties per game last season, which was the 7th-highest in FBS. In the 24-17 loss to Tennessee on Oct. 19, Alabama committed 15 penalties, which knocked them back 115 total yards.
There were on-field outbursts that showed a lack of discipline, notably Malachi Moore’s immature kicking of a spotted ball late in the 40-35 loss to Vanderbilt on Oct. 5. Off the field, veteran linebacker Keanu Koht was suspended by DeBoer after an off-the-field incident, and tight end CJ Dippre said late in the season that many of the Tide’s issues stemmed from off-the-field problems rather than execution – emphasizing a lack of discipline among his teammates.
This is not a good look in any program, especially at Alabama. Again, DeBoer – like all modern coaches – has to walk a fine line between cracking the whip and practicing perpetual roster management. But that line is being successfully walked with strong culture and leadership in other programs.
2. Time management
One of the unquestioned highlights of Alabama’s 2024 season was the electrifying 41-34 victory over Georgia on Sept. 28. The Crimson Tide hadn’t played as well as they did against the Bulldogs before that night at Bryant-Denny Stadium, and they sure didn’t at any point afterward.
But even in that game, DeBoer earned criticism for Alabama’s offense snapping the ball with more than 20 seconds left on the play clock throughout the second half – with subsequent failure helping allow the Bulldogs to regain momentum and briefly go ahead.
DeBoer has made it known that he prioritizes scoring over draining the clock, but still … the sound strategy of taking the proverbial air out of the football rarely fails. And the coach also allows that clock management with a 2-touchdown lead is far different than holding onto a 5-point lead – and that each situation is unique. Nevertheless, factoring the scoreboard into the equation has got to be emphasized when competing in close SEC games.
3. Play-calling
Ah yes, what coaches are primarily on the sidelines to do – draw up ball plays. A popular criticism of Alabama in 2024 was an apparent lack of adjustment on offense at halftime when a defense was controlling the situation. Defensively, though the Crimson Tide were above average in both the conference and nation, tackling issues cropped up from time to time to time.
Also, players like Moore were publicly vocal about how defensive play-calls were coming “a little late” from the sideline – giving players “anxiety of not knowing what the offense is (going to) run or adjusting to their formations.” Moore delivered that criticism to reporters after the Vandy loss, and while it might have sounded harsh at the time, it was also a remarkable concession that there was plenty of in-season growing pains creating cracks in the system.
4. Offensive fixes
DeBoer could also get better right immediately by changing offensive coordinators this offseason. Nick Sheridan didn’t seem to get the most out of quarterback Jalen Milroe in 2024, as Milroe almost regressed as the season went along.
Sheridan felt like a bit of a stretch in the first place, having coached tight ends for DeBoer at Washington and previously working as the offensive coordinator at Indiana well before the Hoosiers were any good. And at $1.35 million per season, the Crimson Tide can certainly get more bang for their buck than Sheridan – plus, making the switch now that Milroe is NFL-bound would be a clean tweak.
You can point fingers in a lot of directions, but Bama’s biggest offensive problem this past season was that it lacked an identity. You can debate cause and effect, but Bama lost 4 games — and those games represented the 3 fewest rushing attempts and 5th-fewest this season.
The focus seemingly changed week to week, and once teams adjusted to Ryan Williams, the big plays all but stopped.
Milroe completed 20 passes that covered 30 or more yards this season — but just 5 of those happened in November and December.
5. Trenches need trenching
Alabama clearly had major problems at times on the offensive line, as the combination of lack of running lanes and forcing Milroe to run for his life when pass protection broke down caused major instability. Again, 4 of Alabama’s 5 fewest rushing attempts came in games it lost.
Milroe led the Tide with 726 rushing yards. It was the first time since 2000 that nobody cleared 750 yards rushing. The Tide finished with just 2,260 rushing yards — 41 yards more than Derrick Henry gained by himself in 2015.
Even though left tackle Kaydn Proctor battled through various injuries to play Michigan in Tampa, his absence and Alabama’s difficulty in shuffling pieces around to cover for it was ineffective.
The portal will take care of some of those issues, though with former 5-star recruit and starting right tackle Elijah Pritchett opting to move on the Crimson Tide lose a piece of the puzzle they probably really didn’t want to lose. Figuring out a way to teach technique without piling up an oversized laundry bin full of holding penalties would also be advised. DeBoer must realize that adding beef up front is a top priority.
An APSE national award-winning writer and editor, David Wasson has almost four decades of experience in the print journalism business in Florida and Alabama. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and several national magazines and websites. He also hosts Gulfshore Sports with David Wasson, weekdays from 3-5 pm across Southwest Florida and on FoxSportsFM.com. His Twitter handle: @JustDWasson.
