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Paul Finebaum knows Alabama’s season didn’t come to an end after the final second ticked off on Saturday night in Norman.
But some, or maybe a whole lot of people, probably see it that way, because making the College Football Playoff is going to be a whole lot harder now with a 3rd loss. Taking over for a legend is never easy, and Kalen DeBoer’s first season as head coach in Tuscaloosa took a disastrous turn with Saturday’s 24-3 loss at Oklahoma.
Suddenly, an Alabama team that appeared headed to the Playoff in its first season without Nick Saban patrolling the sidelines has that dreaded 3rd loss that might’ve just killed those Playoff dreams. That means people like Finebaum are already spinning things forward to 2025, and the ESPN college football analyst spelled things out for DeBoer and his staff during his Monday morning appearance on the McElroy & Cubelic In The Morning show.
“What this staff has to do is fit its needs. They can’t just go and cherry pick,” said Finebaum. “It’s complex enough, as you know, to just go out and hire a bunch of free agents and turn them into a team, that is maybe the final epitaph on what Lane Kiffin did.”
Finebaum then pointed to the most important position on the field.
“I think Kalen DeBoer needs to decide who and what he wants to be his quarterback,” said Finebaum. “Is it currently on the roster, or is it coming in, or does he want to go out and fill the gaps? I think that’s where it really begins, and the offensive line came back from the dead and really went back to sleep in the most important moment. That’s where I would start. He’s well ahead of me on that, I hope.”
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
