ESPN's Stephen A. Smith implied that he believes Kalen DeBoer should've taken the Michigan Wolverines head coaching job instead of moving forward with the Alabama Crimson Tide and getting the doors blown off by the Indiana Hoosiers 38-3 in the Rose Bowl on Thursday.
Smith just didn't say it, instead saying that others will be saying it. Which isn't wrong.
"There’s no way to slice it: this is an awful look for Kaleb DeBoer at Alabama. Losses happen. Thorough ass-kickings, in the CFB Playoffs, for an SEC team is not suppose to go down this way. We’ll probably hear Alabama folks saying DeBoer should’ve taken himself to Michigan. I mean, this is that damn bad," Smith tweeted.
DeBoer took an optimistic tone following the Crimson Tide's worst CFP loss, looking forward to what the program needs to achieve to be on the other side of what he described as a "thin margin" postgame in Pasadena.
"It may not feel like it when you're in this moment right now and what happened today, but I can tell you it's a fine between being here and being at the top," DeBoer said. "We got to put the work in, you got to believe, you got to be consistent, you got to have discipline and we'll get back to work and start all over again.
"Go back to starting over from scratch with putting the people around you -- the right people -- and committing to something. A common goal together and the actions following it."
That's all well and good. But DeBoer knows deep down he screwed up.
Michigan in better shape to turn things around than Alabama
While neither Alabama nor Michigan had a bad season, the expectations are higher than four losses. It's been two straight disappointing finishes for both teams, who played each other in the CFP semifinal two years ago.
The Wolverines are in a much better position to make good on the expectations for one reason: Oracle CTO Larry Ellison, who, alone, can outspend the entire "Yeah Alabama" NIL collective.
DeBoer could've had it all, and returned to his home region. Instead, he's the guy Tide fans don't want, filling in for the guy DeBoer will never be able to replace, struggling to keep up in the rev-share rat race College Football has become.