Regardless of how his team performed, Kalen DeBoer was going to be under a more intense microscope than any coach in college football this season after he accepted the thankless (albeit highly paid) task of succeeding Nick Saban as Alabama’s coach.
Seven games into the Crimson Tide’s season, it’s not going particularly well.
Alabama fell to 5-2 on the season Saturday with a 24-17 loss at SEC rival Tennessee at Neyland Stadium, a game in which the Crimson Tide failed to score on any of its final four drives.
A good portion of the criticism of Alabama went beyond their players and to the sideline, particularly with the way it lost. The Crimson Tide was sloppy, with 15 penalties for 115 yards, and made several questionable decisions, including going for it on fourth-and-22 from its own 18-yard line with fewer than two minutes remaining.
Above all else, Alabama suffered its second loss of the season in just its seventh game, the first time that has happened since 2007, which was Saban’s first season at the helm of a rebuilding program.
Given the stakes and the high-profile nature of the setback, social media had plenty to say about the Crimson Tide’s loss. Here’s a sampling of the conversation: