Kalen DeBoer's first season as Alabama's head coach didn't reach a double-digit win-total. And quite frankly, it didn't deserve to. After starting the year with an overtime loss to Michigan in the College Football Playoff semifinals in Nick Saban's last game, the Crimson Tide lost 19-13 to the Wolverines, now coached by Sherrone Moore, in a ReliaQuest Bowl on New Year's Eve Alabama was favored in by three scores in.
The "Bama Standard" was not met in DeBoer's opening act. As The Athletic's Chris Vannini noted, this was not a "typical" Crimson Tide team, and they never deserved to be included in the sport's first 12-team College Football Playoff field.
"The CFP argument was dumb was because anyone who watched Alabama this year knew it wasn't typical Alabama," Vannini wrote.
"The ceiling was high and the floor was low. Going to bat so hard for *this* Bama team, to tear down other schools having great years, was such a bad look, and here we are."
Losing to Oklahoma in Week 13 was the most disqualifying loss any CFP contender had all season. After that, no objective college football fan thought they were truly deserving. Had SMU been blown out by Clemson and not made the heroic comeback the Mustangs did in the ACC Championship, it's possible the College Football Playoff Selection Committee would've found a way to force Alabama in.
Ball don't lie, though.
DeBoer and offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan never adjusted to repeated blitzes from a Michigan defense constantly stacking the box. Jalen Milroe repeatedly tipped off plays and failed to make deep, medium, or even checkdown passes.
The Crimson Tide were outcoached by a Wolverines team that lost talent in the transfer portal but seemingly wanted this one more.
Moore was once a coach with a questionable future as Michigan struggled. Alabama once looked like a CFP shoo-in that just needed to finish out what should've been smooth sailing in November after the LSU game.
Now it's DeBoer who has all the question marks and has no season left to earn any goodwill. The Tide has turned indeed.