NORMAN, Okla. — Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer heard the critics and the questions heading into his team’s College Football Playoff opener at Oklahoma on Friday.
There was the sentiment that maybe Alabama shouldn’t have made the 12-team tournament for the Football Bowl Subdivision’s national championship. The Crimson Tide lost 28-7 to Georgia in the Southeastern Conference championship game on Dec. 6, their third defeat of the season, and a strong Notre Dame squad got left out of the CFP field when it was revealed the next day.
Then rumors about him possibly leaving for Michigan when that job suddenly became open last week were serious enough for DeBoer to issue a statement saying he was happy at Alabama, where he took over in January 2024 when Nick Saban stepped down after 17 seasons with six national championships in Tuscaloosa.
DeBoer expected his players to handle it all well, and they did.
“The doubt piece — there’s enough confidence within our group to where we can see the doubters, we can see the naysayers and just go still play our game,” DeBoer said. “This group is tight enough to where there’s never been any finger pointing. There’s ever been anything like that.”