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Kalen DeBoer gets his first big test as head coach at Alabama with No. 2 Georgia coming to Tuscaloosa. (Brandon Sumrall/Getty Images)
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.
It’s 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…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/georgia-vs-alabama-kalen-deboer-gets-first-big-test-ps-post-saban-144255316.html
Author : Yahoo Sports
Publish date : 2024-09-24 14:42:55
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