Paul Finebaum may as well have been playing a harp by a waterfall for Auburn football fans when he spoke on the August 21 edition of ESPN's "Get Up" about the definitive end of the Alabama Crimson Tide dynasty; now that Kalen DeBoer is the head coach in Tuscaloosa.
Even more satisfying for Tiger fans was Finebaum having declared the dynasty over for some time now, even under Nick Saban in the NIL era.
“We’ve seen Georgia win twice and Michigan win once since Alabama last won a national championship," Finebaum prefaced before saying, "So, yes, I would declare the dynasty done. It was done before Saban left. It’s really done now that DeBoer is there.”
Saban's final years were still dynastic in many respects, to be fair. Though the Tide weren't winning national championships, they were the one team that beat Georgia over a three-year span. And they did it twice in the SEC Championship. They were a one-point loss in Baton Rouge from getting the chance to beat Georgia in 2022.
But the Tide were once undeniable. In recent years, a first-year Brian Kelly-coached LSU, a second-year Josh Heupel-coached Tennessee, and Jimbo Fisher's Texas A&M Aggies with Zach Calzada under center.
The Bama Standard was so high that they were a shell of what they once were in Saban's final seasons. And now DeBoer lost many of his recruits and has made radical shifts in philosophy and the Tide's facilities.
What can go wrong? A lot. And Alabama fans know it.
Kalen DeBoer has to beat 'Husky Harsin' allegations Auburn football fans slapped on him
The power of Auburn Twitter was proven with the "Husky Harsin" label Tiger fans were able to slap on DeBoer. It's a catchy name and the similarities are humorous. It caught on enough to the point Alabama fans will be fearing the hashtag during close games this season.
What makes the allegations real is how tough the Tide's 2024 schedule is. 8-4 in Tuscaloosa under DeBoer in year one may as well be the same thing as 6-6 with four straight losses in Auburn back in 2021 under Bryan Harsin.
Georgia, Wisconsin in Madtown, LSU in Death Valley, Tennessee in the Volunteer State, and Oklahoma in Norman. There are plenty of chances for DeBoer's Tide to slip and fall into a mass hysteria Bammers might not be prepared for.