News Article
Published
Oct 14, 2026 at 11:36 AM EDT
A one-score loss to the Georgia Bulldogs hasn’t dented Kalen DeBoer’s standing in Tuscaloosa, at least by Paul Finebaum’s read.
The ESPN analyst weighed in on “Get Up” on Oct. 14, saying the Alabama Crimson Tide’s fan base has rallied around its third-year coach after the 20-17 defeat in Week 6.
“Kalen DeBoer has done a masterful job of winning over Alabama fans even with a loss,” Finebaum said.
He added that supporters remain fixated on an officiating call they believe decided the game, not on the man running the sideline.
“They are embracing, they are hugging Kalen DeBoer like he is Nick Saban, Bear Bryant wrapped into one,” Finebaum said.
That’s a sharp turn from where things stood months ago. DeBoer, 51, went 9-4 with a 5-3 SEC mark in his debut season, then 11-4 and 7-1 in Year 2 with a first-round College Football Playoff win.
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Indiana then beat his team in the Rose Bowl, and the offseason brought repeated links to the Michigan opening.
Not every reaction to the Georgia game has been kind. DeBoer screamed “you cost us the game” at sophomore cornerback Dijon Lee Jr. after a late unsportsmanlike conduct flag, then stressed “emotional maturity” in his postgame news conference.
One critic was the Carolina Panthers’ vice president of team development, a former Green Beret, who questioned that message in comments to The Athletic’s Rafi Kohan.
“Whenever a leader can’t manage his emotions, that just basically reverberates throughout the group,” he said.
Finebaum’s bigger worry is the Tennessee Volunteers. “You have to be worried, because two years ago in a similar spot they blew a game in Knoxville as a favorite,” he said. “Of course, they did it two years earlier as the No. 1 team in the country.”
Two years ago, Alabama was 5-1 when it fell 24-17 in Knoxville. The 2022 team arrived unbeaten and left with a 52-49 defeat.
Alabama, 5-1 and 3-1 in the SEC, faces the Volunteers at 3:30 p.m. ET on Oct. 17 on ABC. Texas A&M visits Tuscaloosa in Week 8.