On one sideline Saturday in Tuscaloosa will be Kalen DeBoer, trying to lead Alabama to success PS — Post Saban.
On the other side will be Kirby Smart, the former Tide assistant who so modeled everything he does at Georgia after his old boss, he is essentially Saban 2.0.
DeBoer, 49, arrived from Washington last January with a new style trying to duplicate old success — Saban won six national titles at Alabama and made the Crimson Tide the nation’s preeminent program that all others were measured against.
Replacing a legend is always a daunting task; big expectations and big pressure. The old guy seems to grow closer and closer to infallible with each passing week. Momentum can be tricky to maintain. Any deviation from how it used to be done can raise concerns. Any wobble from perfection can be taken as a flashing warning light.
For DeBoer there is an additional reality: the presence of Smart, 48, who isn’t just Saban’s most mirror image disciple, but happens to be succeeding at Sabanesque levels right in Alabama’s face. Georgia is who everyone is chasing these days, winners of 49 of its last 51 games, including two national titles.
Its only two losses during that stretch? To Saban’s Tide.
So No. 2 Georgia visiting No. 4 Alabama Saturday night isn’t just DeBoer’s first big conference litmus test to show the program is going to be fine by being a little different, it will come against a juggernaut rival that is built on the familiar.
“Welcome to the SEC, right?” DeBoer said on Monday.
DeBoer, on paper, is up for it — both the near-term spotlight game and the long term of following not just Saban but Bear Bryant and Gene Stallings and all of Alabama’s grandeur. Big games are his thing.
Across nine seasons as a head coach he led Washington to the brink of a national title and a Pac-12 championship. He got Fresno State to a bowl game after cutting his teeth at the NAIA level, where he led the University of Sioux Falls to three national championships.
His style is different from Saban. His mannerisms are different. His philosophies are different. The results are what matter though. Change can be good, even necessary, for blue-blood programs who too often cling to traditions and coaching trees.
Combine DeBoer’s track record of unbridled success with Alabama’s vast resources and the likelihood of sustained excellence remains high. It’s why he was a smart hire.
That doesn’t mean Smart isn’t smart as well. He spent nine seasons as a Saban assistant and, had the timing worked out different, he would have been the obvious heir apparent in Tuscaloosa.
Instead, Smart left in 2016 to try to finally maximize resource-rich Georgia.
He runs the Bulldogs as Saban ran the Tide. Recruiting. Competition. Style. Even some of the verbiage. Smart is his own man, but it’s clear in nearly everything he does what man influenced him the most.
It’s a wrinkle to the stakes.
“Every game is a first,” DeBoer said about this season for him. “First road trip. First game in Bryant-Denny. First conference game.”
The first is not the last, of course. Saturday is but one game. Alabama could lose and still win the SEC, still make the playoff, still win the national championship. Georgia could dominate and DeBoer could still wind up with a statue on the Walk of Champions.
Saban, for all his dominance, wasn’t perfect. In his first season, he lost six games, one to Louisiana-Monroe.
Still, that kind of perspective and patience will be tested Saturday if the Tide stumble. Four games into his tenure, this is in no way, no how a must-win game for Kalen DeBoer.
It sure would be nice though.
That’s the unique pressure.
“For us it’s just really honing in and simplifying it down to what you have control of,” DeBoer said. “And that’s making sure our energy, attitude and effort is on point. We are going to continue to fight amidst the battle on Saturday but our preparation [has to be] on point.”
It’s the kind of thing Saban would say. From afar, everything looks the same in Tuscaloosa, of course. The Tide are 3-0, ESPN’s GameDay is set to broadcast under Denny Chimes, the hotels and Airbnb’s are nearly sold out despite being overpriced. The roster is stocked and the fans are dreaming of championships.
Bring on the Dawgs.
DeBoer even seemed to be embracing a motivational edge Saban most certainly would have enjoyed — and Smart no doubt does not. The Tide (+1.5) are regular season underdogs for the first time since a 2015 visit to Georgia and home dogs for the first time since the LSU game in 2007.
Reverse rat poison.
“That’s what we get to do, let any of the naysayers know what we are capable of …,” DeBoer said. “That’s a tribute to what people see in Georgia and how high level a football team they have and, to their credit, that is exactly what they are. For us, it’s about doing what we can do.”
Those are the stakes for Kalen DeBoer, a top-five, SEC opener while following the legend; Post Saban and with Saban 2.0 staring back at him.