Are Expectations Too High for Alabama, Georgia, Texas and LSU?
Sports Illustrated's Pat Forde, Bryan Fischer and Kevin Sweeney give their thoughts on the expectations for several SEC powers.
Video Transcript
Start with Alabama.
That's the place where they actually still have a quarterback competition, it appears.
Austin Mack and Keilan Russell battling there.
We'll see.
Maybe the last pl- the last quarterback battle ever, because somebody didn't hit the portal and take the money to go somewhere else.
But, expectations for Alabama in what feels like a very important year for Kalen DeBoer.
Kevin?
I mean, I think they have to be back in the playoff.
Like, I think every, every loss is so gonna feel so massive, and that, that's the job he signed up for.
I don't think it matters what extensions Greg Byrne gives or how much optim- how, how much he says, "This is our guy.
We think he's awesome.
He's proven he's a really good coach."
Like, the, the, the expectations are to not just be in the playoff, but advance.
I think the expectation is not to have it feel like the wheels are coming off at the end of the year.
Like, I think the offen- the offense was not good enough down the stretch last year.
And I know a lot of that was attributed to, you know, some of the injuries that Ty Simpson was dealing with.
He was clearly not himself.
But they, they, th- the, the standard's really high, and y- he also bet on the two guys in the building.
And, and again, part of the reason that there is a quarterback battle is that he didn't say, "Hey, screw both of you.
We're, we're taking someone from the portal.
We, we believe in the two guys we've worked out.
We think one of them's gonna be a guy.
We, maybe both of them will be guys in time."
And that was a huge bet.
Now, again, I don't know if that's a bet your job on it bet, especially with this contract.
It seems by, by all accounts like it would be a, it would be a very, very expensive decision to move on from Kalen DeBoer.
I don't think it I don't think we're talking in, in that, those terms anymore now that he's made the playoff.
But the perception of who he is in the sports hierarchy and where Alabama is in the sports hierarchy, I think is very much on the line this year in how, how this continued transition goes.
Well, it is Alabama, so I think we will still be talking about Kalen DeBoer's job security- For sure because this is the nature of that job.
And really, I mean, that's the nature of the state, right?
And, and especially following who he followed up w- in terms of Nick Saban and the standard of success.
So I, I, I would almost like say it's not just making the playoff, I think it's winning a game in the playoff.
Like, that, you know, you gotta show progress if you're Kalen DeBoer there to, to win over a very skeptical fan base, a very skeptical booster base there that, you know, you need to keep tapping in terms of You know, I, I would say Alabama i- is not the highest spender, you know, in, in, in the SEC.
You know, or near, even near close to it.
And I, I think that's something that can be shown, shown on the field, you know?
And I think, you know, a lot of peoples are gonna circle that Al- LSU game all, you know, just given the nature of that rivalry, number one, but also because there's gonna be a d- a bit of a disparity, in terms of the actual roster that both those teams are gonna field.
How do you overcome that?
It's coaching.
And can Kalen DeBoer be one of those difference makers?
And I think there's gonna be, you know, quite a bit of noise.
You know, not only the, the first time that, he loses a game, and you get the, the Finebaum callers are piling on, and, you know, they, they wanna run him out of the building right away.
But, you know, I think, you know, viewing this holistically, you know, can, can you show some progress, a- as a coach there?
And, and he, he has, you know, going from last year to this year, but I think that, that Rose Bowl loss, you know, to Indiana of all teams.
Like, you go back to, you know, you, Pat, you were there on, on the first.
Like, there was, you know, talk about people, "Oh, well, we think, you know, we think actually, you know, Alabama's gonna win this because, you know, they're, they're, they're Indiana and we're in the SEC."
And that's, that's not necessarily how things go, , a- anymore.
So I think, you know, meaningful progress needs to be accomplished on the field, and I think to me that means winning a playoff game.
And, whether they actually have the horses or they have the, the coaching staff to do that, I, I think is, still remains to be seen, especially given the extra conference game they're going to play.
Yeah.
Well, they, they did win a playoff game last year at Oklahoma, but it was so completely dwarfed by the beat down from Indiana that you forget really, frankly.
You know, they, they fran- they frankly were fortunate to make the playoff.
They validated it to a degree by winning at Oklahoma.
But then the resulting game And I, I, I s- I remember, I mean, look, obviously I was on board with Indiana big time last year, and the number of people who were like, "Oh, I think Alabama could beat them," I was just like, "You have not watched these teams.
You are still looking at the laundry."
Yep.
Take the laundry off and there's no way Alabama's as good as Indiana.
And then it not just was true, but it was like, then they just punished them in the second half, and that's the thing that the Alabama fans are still trying to deal with and, and get over to a degree.
And that's what I think, that's where some of the, the progress and goodwill that Kalen DeBoer had earned dissipated rather dramatically after that.
I still think he's a good coach.
He was awfully good at Washington.
Yep.
And I think he can- At Fresno he can do it at Alabama, but man, the, the pressure that spikes every time they lose a game, to Kevin's point, is just, you know That, that's hard to deal with and hard to kinda keep your calm and your resolve while that's going on around you.
Texas briefly.
Longhorns look really in great shape as long as Arch Manning takes another step forward.
The, the skill position talent they brought in around him is outstanding.
The defensive talent is very good.
They should be, a load this year, and I think deservedly kind of co-billing at the top with Georgia.
We'll see what, if they can handle the Bulldogs, because that's been a problem for them.
But, running the ball's also been a problem.
We'll see how that goes.
But, Brian, expectations for Texas this year kind of feels like national title or bust, there on the 40 Acres.
I mean, you know, just in terms of the transfer additions that they brought in and how much they spent on those guys.
It was clear that, Arch Manning needed a better supporting cast.
He got it.
You, you mentioned the running backs and, and, like, that was definitely a big issue.
Like, I, I think both of the-- both those guys, you know, who- whoever you're gonna throw in, like, they're, they're gonna provide a bit of more of a running game threat.
The question in my mind is just like, can the offensive line, which they really didn't patch up in a similar way, is, is that gonna be able to hold up, not just initially, you know, for games like that Ohio State, you know, game there in Austin, but like, you know, throughout the course of a season, you know?
And I think that's, that's gonna be, you know, up to Ce- Steve Sarkisian and up to, up to Arch to continue the progress that we showed-- that he showed, during the second half of the season, last year.
I, I'm curious, you know, there's a new defensive coordinator in town, like how, how is that gonna look?
I, I thought the Longhorns were actually pretty good o- on that side of the ball.
Had some, had some Quite, quite a bit of talent there, especially on the back end.
You know, how, how are you gonna incorporate some of those new faces, some of those new names, some of that new system from Will Muschamp, there at Texas?
But to, to me, like, there's, there's always high expectations, there, there for the Longhorns.
But it feels like this year, just given where Arch is in his tenure, what they spent on the transfer portal, who they brought coming in from the high school ranks to kind of supplement things, where the program is, at this point as an established SEC team at this point, who has made it to Atlanta but has not been able to get over the hump, who has exited probably earlier than they would've liked to, certainly in some of the, their, their playoff runs.
Like, this is, this, this I don't wanna say it's make or break, but, but it feels like a lot of eggs a- and a lot of chips are being pushed into the center of the table right now, for, for Texas.
Yeah, and I, and I think the, the schedule is, you know, opportunity centric, but also, like, man, like, you better be as good as you say you are because Ohio State week two, at Tennessee week four, Red River, Ole Miss coming to your building, have to go to LSU, have to go to Texas A&M.
There are some other games in there that I didn't even mention that are like, all right, well, yeah, you Of course you're gonna, you know, win at Mizzou, but, like, g- g- good luck.
I mean, that's still not an easy game by any stretch.
Yeah.
And so, yeah, like, the, the talent is real, but it'll also I mean, look, I think Texas will be an interesting sort of litmus test of, like, how do expectations for teams change in this era.
Like, this is a monster of a team that should not go undefeated.
If Texas goes undefeated with this schedule, they deserve all sorts of plaudits because this is gonna be a, a beast.
Like, this team could easily go This team could be the best team in the country and go 10 and 2.
Sure.
I think that, that, that, that, that to me is, is the fascinating conversation is, like, okay, like, how will they handle the inevitable failure?
Because they are going to get beat in one of these spots.
They might get beat in two of them.
And especially if those are early, how do they respond, and can they keep the wheels on enough to say, "Hey, like, this team still is clearly national title good"?
Because I think, you know, certainly talent-wise they are.
We think quarterback-wise they are.
Obviously Arch has to take the next step.
Like, they should have all the, all the ingredients, but, you know, they're gonna get tested in a way that, like, very few teams in college football have, and, you know, how they respond to that will be fascinating to me.
Yeah.
The, the part about being 10 and 2 and still being the best team, that, hey, that was Ohio State 2024.
Yeah.
And so I think Indiana broke everything.
They broke every rule, I think, about what a football by going 16 and 0, and doing it the way they did.
But I think we, we If we regress more towards the mean, we're gonna see multi-loss national champions, semi-frequently in the, in the years to come.
Last thing as far as what we're looking forward to, and I, I don't wanna give short shrift to Texas A&M, who also is, I think, very interesting this year.
But obviously Lane Kiffin is the other outstanding thing here, and LSU.
And Kiffin's th- these are the things, like, everybody's gonna be licking their chops waiting to hear from, you know, Lane, who just absolutely sprayed napalm all over the conference at the end of last year, and he tends in these situations to be a complete dud at the microphone.
He's awkward, won't really engage.
We'll see if that changes, but my expectation is for Lane Kiffin to say very little and to save his ammo for some random Tuesday night Twitter barrage that incites everybody again.
Thoughts on Lane, Brian, and specif- like, the Lane here, but more importantly Lane's team in the fall.
Well, you know, I'm, I'm curious.
Is, is he gonna filibuster there when he steps up to the mic?
Like, is, is he gonna, like, extend it, you know, go into the backup quarter, "You know, we really like our backup quarterbacks, you know?
And I know S- and h- here, I'll give you a, I'll give you a full update on Sam Levitt's health and, you know, wide receiver and, you know, let's, let's talk about the secondary."
Like, I, I could definitely see Lane doing that, you know, at some point as well.
So, like, it's There, there's a lot going on there, at LSU.
You know, frankly, it's, it I mean, this is, one of the teams in, in college football that has spent quite a bit of money.
And, and he's spoken about that.
He's, he's, he was quite clear in terms of the contractual situation and that he wanted to have money to spend on the roster, and they've upgraded.
You know, they've Jordan Sead, one of the best left tackles in the, in the country, you know, is gonna be there at LSU.
Like- Huge addition how, how, how well is he going to adjust to SEC play?
Like, it's, it's, it's Frankly, it's a little different than being out there at Colorado and seeing somebody from Iowa State, you know, across the way.
Like, how, how is he gonna adjust?
He certainly has the in- inherent talent.
And, and if he lives up to the billing to potentially be a first-round pick, type of guy, you're, you're, you're talking about building your offense, you know, and, and, and relying on that.
Certainly Sam Levitt's health.
Like, gotten some good reports out of, out of Baton Rouge in terms of where he's at, you know, and, and his, his movability.
You know, he, he's back to kind of being the Sam Levitt that we saw two years ago, and I think that, that could be huge for them.
But, like, there's, there's just a lot of pressure on Lane.
And it's not like it's it, it just eases in.
You know, I mean, three weeks, obviously there's the Ole Miss game, right?
Like, there's It, it's just one, one week after another is, is gonna be a referendum on, on Lane it seems like, you know, during SEC play.
Like, it's gonna be a great hire or it's gonna be w- a, a terrible hire, from, from week to week, and that's not just gonna be, you know, some of, some of the LSU fans talking.
It's gonna be, you know, the rest of the league.
And so, is, is Lane equipped to handle all that?
Of course.
You know, this is, this is still Lane, who, you know, at, at this point he's almost 20 years to, to, to be a head coach, which is kinda hard to, to believe.
But, you know, this is, this is what he does.
And, he, he is, he is definitely gonna be duller, I think, certainly at the mic than, what we will see there in Baton Rouge this, this season on the field.
But I think in a lot of ways it was a much more comfortable place for him to be, to be well, a slight outsider at Ole Miss, the slight underdog.
"Oh man, we're p- everyone knows we're pretty darn good, but well, we're still Ole Miss.
Like, we're, we're still not supposed to be there."
And again, with the way that they've spent and with the way that the, the game has changed and their ability to flip this roster and put themselves in championship position in year one, like, the, the calculus has, has shifted to where, yeah, like it is going to be a pressure cooker unlike anything I think he has experienced, and he has experienced a lot of it.
And, I mean, again, part of that is the Ole Miss game and, and everything that comes with that in week three, but I think a lot of it is the LSU job.
Like, it's, it's just, it's just different.
And, yeah, I, I think his, his tone and his bravado probably won't change too much until it gets really bad, and I don't anticipate it getting really bad, 'cause I think he's a really d- really, really darn good football coach.
But yeah, I, I, I'm just fascinated to see how he and this group handle the expectations or the target that they haven't earned other than for their wallets, right?
That, that, that, that is an interesting dynamic in a league with so many powerful teams on paper is, is they have, they have, they, they, they are, they are a hunted team without hunted results yet.
That's a good saying.
Good one
