Stephen A. Smith suggests Deion Sanders for Alabama if 2025 season similar to 2024
By Andrew Olson
Published:
Stephen A. Smith isn’t in the business of making friends with his takes on sports. His latest take on college football coaches such as Deion Sanders and Kalen DeBoer is unlikely to win him any new followers from the Alabama fanbase.
The Sidelines Bama account on X captured a clip from Tuesday’s First Take in which Smith lauded Sanders and criticized DeBoer for having a finesse team.
During a segment featuring Smith and Paul Finebaum, the First Take graphic read “Should SEC schools call Deion regardless of Colorado’s season outcome?”
“Well, just imagine if (Sanders) was in Tuscaloosa, what if instead of DeBoer it was him coaching Alabama? What if it was him coaching at Texas A&M with that oil money, you know, with those alumni members contributing to the program and beyond? What if he was coaching at some place like Florida?” Smith openly pondered.
Smith then recalled how Florida State, Sanders’ alma mater, passed on the Seminole great to hire Mike Norvell in 2020. When considering Sanders in the SEC, Smith shared his thoughts on DeBoer’s time at Alabama so far, calling the Crimson Tide “considerably softer” than the team was under Nick Saban.
“I’m not sold on DeBoer,” Smith said. “I know that he did a great job in Washington, but listen, they miss Nick Saban in Alabama. You know this, Paul, they miss Nick Saban. Damn it, I miss Nick Saban….
“When you don’t have (Saban), you can’t have somebody that brings a finesse style of game. You understand to Alabama, that’s meat and potatoes… We don’t see that. We didn’t see that with DeBoer. I thought they were considerably softer and I’m not going to lie to you.”
Smith eventually shifted his focus back to Sanders, saying he’d sign off on Prime Time in Tuscaloosa in the near future.
“I would not have minded at all. If Alabama changed course and they brought somebody like Prime Time to Alabama, that would have been spectacular,” Smith said. “And I think it’s something they still should consider down the line if this next season is a repeat of last season. That’s just my personal opinion.”
Finebaum noticeably got a couple of good chuckles out of Smith’s wild take, and Tide fans will probably react similarly.
Dear God please get us to the season. https://t.co/mmf2h99fJP pic.twitter.com/jb9aSzyibU
— Sidelines – Bama (@SSN_Alabama) August 19, 2025
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
