A former Alabama Crimson Tide star spoke out with criticism for head coach Kalen DeBoer.

After a 9-4 record in his first season as Alabama’s head football coach, DeBoer had a lot to prove going into his second season. Last season ended with a 19-13 loss to unranked Michigan in the ReliaQuest Bowl, and it caused fans to question if DeBoer truly was the right man for the job.

All offseason, there seemed to be a sense of hope, unity, and transformation in Tuscaloosa within the Alabama football program. It felt as if things had turned in the right direction. It felt as if this year’s team could help Alabama return to the College Football playoff.

Well, after the Crimson Tide’s embarrassing 31-17 season opener loss to Florida State, things feel the same as they did at the end of last season: frustrating, confusing, and lacksidasial. The same questions remain. One of which is: Is Kalen DeBoer truly the right man for the job?

After the loss on Saturday in Tallahassee, DeBoer made the statement, “I choose to believe we got a good football team.” A quote that left many fans, analysts, and even former players confused.

On Wednesday’s episode of The Triple Option Podcast, former Alabama star running back and Heisman Trophy winner shared his thoughts on BOTH Alabama’s performance on the field, and well as the coaching performance on the sideline. 

"A lot of the things that ailed us and caused us to have those three unranked losses last year showed up glaringly in week one….You talk about effort, you talk about toughness, you talk about discipline – not being able to stop the run, not being able to run the football. These are all reasons why we didn't make the CFP last year. For that to transition, to carry over into week one, that is alarming to me. Essentially that is who we are right now. That is who we are as a team. We're not disciplined, we're soft, we don't have great effort, we don't have 11 people pursuing the ball. We're not running the football, we're not stopping the run. These are all things that don't correlate to winning football."

Ingram doesn’t just stop there though. He also shared his thoughts on DeBoer’s head coaching performance so far:

“I love Kalen DeBoer but rip into this team for me please. Rip into your players for me. Coach like, I don’t know man. I don’t love the result and I don’t love the press conference either man. And I’m a fan of Kalen DeBoer, I’m a fan of Alabama. I’m Alabama through and through. Roll Tide through and through but right now the sentiment around our program right now is nobody is extremely excited about what just transpired on Saturday.”

Ingram isn’t wrong. 

There doesn’t seem to be any excitement.

There doesn’t seem to be any accountability.

But, there needs to be. 

If DeBoer and the Tide want to turn things around, they’re going to have to do so quickly.

Alabama hosts the University of Louisiana Monroe (ULM) Warhawks in Tuscaloosa at 6:45PM C.T.

If the Crimson Tide can put on a strong performance on Saturday, then maybe, just maybe, this team can turn things around for good.