Stephen A Smith sends another warning to Kalen DeBoer originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
ESPN host Stephen A Smith has once again set his sights on Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer. Smith brings the same problem to the Alabama Crimson Tide that he brings to the NBA Goat debate. Comparing the current reality to the legend of someone who has retired.
Advertisement
No one was going to effectively fill Nick Saban’s shoes. Not DeBoer or anyone else in the short term. Replacing Saban is no different than replacing Tom Brady, Michael Jordan or Derek Jeter.
Whoever takes that spot cannot be directly compared to the legend he is replacing. Certainly not in the first few years. Saban won 206 out of 235 games at Alabama. He had a .877 winning percentage (averaging 1.2 losses per season) and won six national championships in 17 seasons.
The largest misstep that many, including Smith make, is assuming it was the majesty of Alabama and not the efforts of Nick Saban that led to their post Bear Bryant dominance. Therefore, when Alabama was not considered a title favorite after Saban, it was deemed unacceptable.
Alabama is progressing, even if it’s not Saban good
In year one under DeBoer, the Crimson Tide finished 9-4. A 24-3 loss against the Oklahoma Sooners late in the season ended their playoff hopes. Alabama would finish No. 17 in the AP top 25 and lose a close game to Michigan in the ReliaQuest Bowl.
Advertisement
In 2025, DeBoer and Alabama made improvements. Finishing 11-4 and making the college football playoff. After a surprising loss to Florida State in week one, Alabama would go on an eight-game winning streak that would include No. 5 Georgia, No. 16 Vanderbilt, No. 14 Missouri and No. 11 Tennessee.
Alabama would go on to lose to Georgia in the SEC championship game but would still make the playoff field. After losing to Oklahoma in consecutive years, Alabama would get their revenge by beating Oklahoma in the first round of the playoff. Then ultimately lost to the eventual National Championship Indiana team in the Rose Bowl.
Alabama would lose convincingly to Indiana before the Hoosiers faced the Miami Hurricanes in the National Title game. Stephen A Smith recently appeared on the Paul Finebaum show where he claimed in no uncertain terms that progress is not good enough for Alabama.
Stephen A. Smith has a legend of Nick Saban problem
Smith addressed his DeBoer concern recently on the Paul Finebaum show. Which was not the first time he has done so.
Advertisement
“I’m not a fan of Kalen DeBoer,” Smith said. As the successor to Nick Saban, I have no problem with him as a football coach. I’m fully aware of what he did in Washington… And I know that the man wins more than he loses.”
“But when I think about Nick Saban, the man who I had the pleasure of getting to know, who flew me to Alabama on a couple of occasions to talk to the football team, to watch him in action, to watch what a standard bearer he was, and how he lived on accountability.”
There’s nothing specifically objectionable about Smith’s comments on the surface. Saban established a culture and a way of doing things. When Alabama lost 38-3 to Indiana, many questioned the fight in Alabama. Something that was never questioned under Saban. However, a look into Smith’s Alabama related comments of the last couple years illustrates an unwillingness to accept anything less than Saban-like.
Back in August, Smith aimed again at DeBoer. On First Take, Smith not only called for Alabama to fire DeBoer, but to replace him with someone who might be as different from Saban as they come.
Advertisement
“I wouldn’t mind at all if Alabama changed course and brought in someone like (Deion) ‘Primetime’ Sanders to Alabama,” Smith told Paul Finebaum on his show. “That would’ve been spectacular. I think it is something they should still consider down the line if this season is a repeat of last season.”
More: Sacramento State’s move to the MAC has everyone talking
Smith has been the proverbial ringleader of ‘get Prime out of Colorado’ in favor of a program he thinks is big enough for Sanders’ celebrity. Yet to a man, even Sanders will admit that he uses every opportunity to soak up knowledge from Saban, even during Geico commercial shoots, because he believes they are not the same.
In October of 2024 after Alabama lost to Vanderbilt, Smith again spoke of the unacceptable nature of the state of Alabama. Smith was displeased that Vanderbilt, an SEC afterthought for most of their existence, snapped a 0-60 streak against ranked opponents against a highly ranked Alabama team.
Advertisement
More:Nebraska finally admits Big Ten hasn’t worked and wanted out
Smith and many Alabama fans have a Saban problem. To repurpose a quote from another all time great college coach Rick Pitino from his Celtics days, “Nick Saban ain’t walking through that door”. Alabama is still a top program expected to continue their winning ways. Just maybe not at the frequency and urgency Alabama fans or Smith would like.
There may never be another Saban and to assume the program would endure at that level was always foolish. NIL and the transfer portal are just as much to blame for Saban retiring as it is for explaining why Alabama is not the undisputed king of college football anymore.
