Kalen DeBoer, Alabama players back each other after second loss of season

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Alabama football has found itself in unfamiliar territory in its first season under a new head coach. The Crimson Tide lost a second game, and it’s only Oct. 19. That marks the first time Alabama has lost two games before the calendar turns to November since 2007.

It’s a different feeling, one Alabama fans aren’t used to. And yet one more item on the long list of things that have been different since head coach Kalen DeBoer took over the program in January.

But losing games isn’t just new for Alabama fans, it’s new for DeBoer as well. After all, DeBoer has only lost 14 games across his entire head coaching career, and only lost three across his 2-year stint at Washington prior to taking the Alabama job.

“He told us straight up that he’s not really good with those speeches after losing, because he never plans on us to come in the locker room after a game and not be victorious,” Alabama safety Malachi Moore said after the Crimson Tide’s loss to Tennessee. “He gets us to rally together and really hone in on what’s in front of us. That’s to win out now, attack each day, pay attention to little details and things like that. His main message was to stay together, stay positive, and everything’s still in front of us.”

Moore instilled a vote of confidence in his coach, one that was echoed by a player that’s played for DeBoer for longer than the rest of the roster, wide receiver Germie Bernard, who followed DeBoer from Washington to Alabama.

“Coach DeBoer, he’s a tremendous coach. He’s a coach that’s been through a lot,” Bernard said. “Now that he’s in this position, I think he will continue to thrive and continue to build this team, and continue to have our backs through it all. He always says it’s all about us, you know what I mean? At the end of the day, we’re gonna have his back just like he has our back.”

After the game, DeBoer was asked what the message to Alabama’s fanbase would be following the loss, and DeBoer, reciprocating the support Moore and Bernard showed, stuck up for his team and his players at this low point of the season.

“Don’t lose belief in these guys because there’s a lot of guys making some big sacrifices in ways that people will never know because they just keep plugging away,” DeBoer said. “And it might be physical things and stuff like that, but they’re working hard, and they have a lot of pride in who they are individually and who we are as Alabama.”

After all, the season isn’t quite over yet.

Most years it would be. A second loss in the BCS or the 4-team playoff era was a nail in the coffin for any season. This even happened just two years ago, when Alabama took a second regular season loss in November, leaving fans wandering aimlessly through the final month of the season.

But that’s not the case anymore. Twelve teams make the College Football Playoff now, and it’s essentially guaranteed that 2-loss teams will be in the field. That means Alabama is likely out of mulligans, but the hopes for the postseason are more than alive, and the team is well aware of it.

“We played our hearts out there today, but just came up short,” Moore said. “I just told them, we’ve got to go back to the drawing board, but everything’s still in front of us. 12-team playoff, there’s a lot that goes on week-to-week, with teams losing, playing close games and everything. I feel like we can’t worry about any of that stuff and just win out from here on out.”

If Alabama is able to win out, it may very well find itself right back in the College Football Playoff. To do that, though? DeBoer says everyone is going to have to take a long look at themselves, first.

“There’s inward, you’ve got to look inward first and make sure that everything you’re doing is right,” DeBoer said. “And then anyone that you sense that has any type of questioning, you’ve got to make sure you bring them with.”

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