Deontae Lawson claims Kalen DeBoer's future at Alabama 'will be remembered'

Thursday night’s Rose Bowl (CFP Quarterfinal) matchup between No. 1 Indiana and No. 9 Alabama served as a massive gut punch to Crimson Tide faithful. The Hoosiers completely dominated Alabama 38-3, handing the Tide the fourth-largest blowout loss in College Football Playoff history.

With the loss, Kalen DeBoer‘s second season in charge at Alabama comes to a whimpering end. Across those two seasons, the Crimson Tide are 20-8 with a 1-1 College Football Playoff record. Following a 28-7 loss to No. 3 Georgia in the SEC Championship Game and a 38-3 loss to No. 1 Indiana in the Rose Bowl, questions about DeBoer’s ability to lead the Tide to their standard of winning have come into question.

A visibly emotional Deonte Lawson, however, took up for his coach following the loss, claiming that Kalen DeBoer‘s future ‘will be remembered’ at Alabama. Lawson recorded four tackles and 0.5 sacks in the game.

“Last year, when Coach DeBoer came in, nobody really knows how to feel,” Lawson said. “He’s coming behind the greatest college coach of all time (Nick Saban), so we didn’t really know what to expect. To just watch him transform and basically elevate from last year to this year and really put his print on the program and have the guys buy in… Coach DeBoer is an excellent coach.”

“He’s a true player-coach. Coach DeBoer is a guy. His future here will be remembered. That’s all I can say. He cares for us, his players. He cares to keep this program up like it’s been, and he’s always wanted to get better. His future will definitely be remembered here.”

Paul Finebaum calls Alabama, Kalen DeBoer ‘soft’ in blowout loss to Indiana

ESPN’s Paul Finebaum obliterated DeBoer on Friday morning’s edition of ‘Get Up.’ Finebaum claimed that the offseason will be ‘an absolute bloodbath’ for the second-year head coach.

“I think it will be an absolute bloodbath for Kalen DeBoer,” Finebaum said. “I’m basing that on the reaction I’ve been getting since halftime of the Rose Bowl yesterday. I’ve rarely ever heard Alabama fans this angry, and part of the reason why they’re angry is because they got behind Kalen DeBoer a couple of weeks ago when he was considering Penn State and Michigan. Then, Alabama came from 17 down to beat Oklahoma, and they wrapped their arms around him and sang ‘Kumbaya’.”

“Now they’ve had it shoved down their throat by Curt Cignetti, who was a Nick Saban disciple. He coached an Indiana team yesterday that looked like Alabama under Nick Saban,” Finebaum continued. “That’s what is driving Alabama fans crazy today, that their team was soft. Their team got beaten at the line of scrimmage. Their team got beaten into submission, which are the principles of how Nick Saban coached throughout his entire career.

“Cignetti is doing that at Indiana, not a school that any Alabama fans respected. Now they’re having it shoved down their throat. It tastes terrible and they will react bitterly against the man in charge, and that’s Kalen DeBoer.”

After deciding not to make the jump to an opening at Michigan, Penn State, or elsewhere, it will be a long and loud offseason for Kalen DeBoer in Tuscaloosa heading into a make-or-break season.