Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer's words at the 2026 SEC Football Media Days on Wednesday were inspirational. For Auburn Tigers fans, that is. For the Gumps, not so much.
DeBoer recognized that his team didn't meet the fanbase's expectations in either of his two seasons at the helm in one of the more honest statements of the week. While DeBoer admitted the team had righted wrongs from the previous campaign, namely, actually making the CFP in 2025/2026, he also acknowledged that the Crimson Tide are nowhere near where they need to be in the grand scheme. They did lose 38-3 to the Indiana Hoosiers in the Rose Bowl, after all.
"We felt like we righted a wrong a little bit last year compared to the year before with some of the things we accomplished. We also understand we fell short of our expectations internally," DeBoer said.
Credit to DeBoer where it is due. That was not just coach-speak bulljunk. DeBoer gave the best possible answer to where the team's mindset is at heading into the 2026 season. His testimony got more honest, which every Auburn fan should've taken as the biggest positive possible.
"We have a younger group, but again, that leads to the eagerness that these guys have and the willingness to be coached and to be pushed and that humility that they have I think that can be seen in the work that's been put in," DeBoer said.
"Until we prove it, we understand there will be doubt."
Oh, there's going to be doubt on that side, alright. That doubt up north should inspire the opposite feeling on the Plains. While DeBoer sunshine-pumped in that statement, it definitely hurt to talk about how young his team is. Especially since it seems redshirt freshman quarterback Keelon Russell may be handed the keys to the offense with minimal experience leading a team.
Auburn must take the Iron Bowl mantle from Alabama in 2026
Alex Golesh should feel empowered by 2026 SEC Football Media Days. His quarterback, Byrum Brown, showed perfect poise in explaining the attitude he and other USF Bulls and Group of Six transfers are showing every day, coming in as written-off underdogs. Golesh should feel empowered by his own stellar performance in Tampa.
Clearly, one of his main focuses for his debut campaign, winning the Iron Bowl, is well within reach. After all, Golesh has the more veteran-laden group. While AU has offensive line questions, they don't have the same questions in the defensive trenches that UA does. Golesh is handing the ball on offense to a QB who has gotten the job done in big games. Or any games. That makes one of them.
The Tide have never been more vulnerable. Almost all the vestiges of the Nick Saban era have faded away. There are still a handful of players from Saban's last recruiting cycles, but this is not the "Bama Standard" of yesteryear. Everyone in Tuscaloosa knows that, but the school stubbornly extended DeBoer's contract and beefed up his buyout this offseason anyway.
Now is the time for the Tigers to track the Tide down and usurp them in the state after six straight losses in the Iron Bowl. It'd cause chaos in west-central Alabama that could only further the divide between the two rivals' trajectories.
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