Paul Finebaum insists Kalen DeBoer teams play with ‘Saban-like edges’ against top competition
By Ethan Stone
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Kalen DeBoer has already proven a lot as Alabama’s head coach despite overseeing just 4 games so far.
The Tide’s wins get more impressive with each passing week. DeBoer, who landed in Tuscaloosa after a few great years at Washington, beat Western Kentucky handily before downing a solid USF team. DeBoer beat his first power conference program at Alabama in Week 3 with a 42-10 win at Wisconsin then topped it 2 weeks later with a shocking and defining win over Georgia.
Is it even fair to use the word “shocking?” I’m not sure how else to describe Alabama’s first quarter against the Bulldogs, even if Kirby Smart and Co. were almost able to pull off a comeback we haven’t seen in a long, long time. Whichever adjective you choose to label it with, there isn’t enough praise for what DeBoer has done at Alabama this early in Year 1.
On Monday, Paul Finebaum spoke about DeBoer’s incredible start with the Crimson Tide, insisting the unit looks like they’re playing loose – perhaps looser than Saban’s final teams in Tuscaloosa in certain ways. His point above all else was that DeBoer has already proven to be an elite coach against quality competition after stacking wins against Kirby Smart, Steve Sarkisian and Dan Lanning dating back to his time in Seattle.
Check out his full comments below:
“I think (the CFB world) viewed him as someone who was superb at Washington. But now you add a win over Kirby Smart. And I think what’s really interesting is you add that win over Kirby Smart to 2 over Sarkisian and I think it’s 3 over Dan Lanning? And it’s hard to compile a record like that.,” Finebaum said on McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning. “We’re speaking of almost Saban-like edges against big-time opponents. I don’t want to overshoot it.”
“I was joking with someone yesterday saying ‘This looks even better than Saban.’ You say that jokingly, but in some ways, they’re a looser team, and they are playing so well. I went from thinking Alabama was a Playoff team to thinking Alabama is in incredibly strong shape. It’s ridiculous to get hung up on the national championship right now… but clearly Alabama could not be in better shape.”
The Tide are now the AP Poll’s No. 1 team in the country heading into a matchup against pesky Vanderbilt in Nashville. Week 6’s game is set for 4:15 and will be aired on SEC Network.
Ethan Stone is a Tennessee graduate and loves all things college football and college basketball. Firm believer in fouling while up 3.
