Emotions ran high this past Saturday as the Alabama Crimson Tide hosted the Georgia Bulldogs in a closely contested SEC showdown decided by just three points.
A late-game personal foul committed by Alabama's Dijon Lee Jr. drew attention after a fuming head coach Kalen DeBoer confronted Lee on the sidelines. DeBoer shouted in Lee's face, and some social media posts claimed the coach yelled at him, "You cost us the [expletive] game," along with other colorful words.
Lee appeared ready to walk away, but former Alabama player Ha Ha Clinton-Dix stepped in to block him, encouraging him to listen to his fuming coach.
That coaching moment was controversial as some criticized the head coach for ranting so hard in one of his players' faces, while others defended DeBoer, including college football analyst Josh Pate.
"Players are paid a lot of money right now, they're gonna get treated like it, whether you like it or not," he said on a YouTube video for his "Josh Pate College Football Show" channel.
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"Number two, and anyone who's sort of been around the team environment understands this: if you've got a mentally fragile team, if you've got an immature team, if you've got a team you don't trust and there's not a lot of mutual respect with, you can't do that as a coach. When you've got the dynamic you want, you can," Pate said.
He contended that Alabama coaching legend Nick Saban frequently confronted players in a similar fashion, as does Georgia head coach Kirby Smart, due to the dynamics within the respective college football programs.
"DeBoer's got a team he can actually trust ... That's probably what it's like there at practice all the time," Pate said. "There is a really, really high level of accountability that's demanded ... That just happened to play out in front of a worldwide audience."
Pate also said he noticed a lot of former players saying it was the acceptable thing for DeBoer to react that way and yell at his player, while those he referred to as "bean counter types" criticized the coach's behavior as unnecessary and uncalled for.
"Buddy, change the channel. Go to bed. Change the channel," he said, also mentioning the pressure that comes with being Alabama's head coach.
Lee's costly penalty came with 2:30 remaining, and with Alabama still within striking distance. After Georgia freshman wide receiver Craig Dandridge completed a one-yard run, Lee shoved him in the helmet and face.
Lee received a 15-yard penalty for his actions, prompting an angry reaction from DeBoer with the game still on the line. The end result saw the SEC's Georgia Bulldogs win 20-17 and take over the SEC standings as well as the Top 25 polls as the No. 1 team in the country.
Meanwhile, it's made Alabama's path a bit more challenging to get to the SEC Championship Game later this season. They'll attempt to bounce back on Saturday, Oct. 17, when they visit Tennessee at 3:30 p.m. ET.
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