Alabama football has lost two games, and it’s not even November yet.
2024 marks the first time with such a result since 2007, what was Nick Saban’s first season leading the Crimson Tide.
Kalen DeBoer is in his first season as Alabama coach, and now after two losses in three weeks, he is working to find ways to get the Crimson Tide back on track.
In his Monday press conference after the latest loss to Tennessee, DeBoer made clear that there’s no room for excuses.
“The message is going to be there’s never going to be excuses,” DeBoer said. “That’s the one thing that only softens character. It only lowers the standard and that will never happen.”
DeBoer said the focus instead needs to be on solutions and moving forward.
“I firmly believe that we’ve got a lot of great people with a lot of great skillsets, whether it’s players, staff, and that they’re all working together,” DeBoer said. “So, really know that that’s going to be the case.”
Alabama is seeking complete games where the offense, defense and special teams all line up. That hasn’t been the case of late. DeBoer also noted how mistakes need to be improved and the penalties need to be minimized.
“All those things that put you behind the eight-ball throughout the course of the game here in the SEC there’s such a fine line between winning and losing and that’s how you get beat,” DeBoer said. “That’s on all of us. It starts with me just continuing to set the standard that will lead to high performance.”
Next up, No. 15 Alabama will face No. 21 Missouri on Saturday (2:45 p.m. CT, ABC) at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Nick Kelly is an Alabama beat writer for AL.com and the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X and Instagram.
