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I talked to one of my buddies for a bit this afternoon and what I'm about to pass on makes a lot more sense. Deboer has certainly entered the chat in weird and uncomfortable ways with everyone, so part of the activities are his. This includes casting aside a healthy chunk of infrastructure and off field personnel immediately. It includes appearing to almost run off numerous players immediately, including and obviously Sayin. There's more turmoil with the roster happening shortly, most believe. Cool. More people were laid off yesterday who were part of Saban's machine and inner circle, in addition to the stuff in the news. This was done by the AD, Byrne, who was direct about it. He hasn't been able to deal with anything in the football operations since he got there, which is "not right" for an AD, and he's going to earn his paycheck now by shaking things up. Deboer agreed to let him pare things the way he sees fit in order to be able to hire who he wants and pay no regard to what he's inherited. Byrne's playing a big part in everything. I couldn't help but laugh. It sounds like a total dumpster fire. It also sounds like Byrne may be trying to handle the donor side of things himself, which isn't crazy at places like Texas, but hasn't been how it's been done with Saban at Bama. Saban had a bunch of people on staff who played key roles in handling players off the field and keeping players happy and out of trouble. That entire group of staff was laid off by Byrne almost immediately and described as "unnecessary". My friends are friends and former coworkers with the Bama people at Texas and my friend working at Bama is considered one of the pioneers in their field for college athletics. Who knows what the future holds, I guess? @SydneyCarton and I will be playing golf next month with our buddy who doesn't work at Bama but has been deeply involved with their program and the money players associated to it for years. Maybe we can get them to loosen up and tell us some good stuff to pass on here.

Lulz at thread title

For decades the cheaters would constantly claim "Texas pays players just like everyone else." Don't get me wrong, I was vocal about how Texas didn't handle it correctly. They should have either joined the cheaters or turned them in. The tactic of not cheating or turning them in but just whining about it to boosters while not letting them pay players was nauseating. But still, the cheaters would always have the same retort when Texas fans pointed out how they were outrecruiting Texas. "You're just jealous, Texas pays players just like everyone else." Oh really? Now that Texas affiliated interests are actually paying players because it's legal (along with a splash of winning), how's that working out for y'all? Fuck 'em all.

Deboer is tearing Alabama down to the studs in order to rebuild something that didn’t need to be rebuilt. Folks still employed there are fucking dumbfounded. I guess this is the way Deboer did it at his other stops, so it’s got to be this way in Tuscaloosa? I’m enjoying it, I know that.

Sayin looks like he been judgin meat

Luginbill, geez. I like the guy. He knows what he's doing there. Let this become a given on this board for the regulars, because it's clearly not going to be understood on the public side of things for awhile: Arch Manning is who Texas wants to be the starter in 2025. They'd have been happy rolling with him as the starter in 2024. Arch is happy to see where things go next year and be the man in 2025. He is, in part, happy because he's being incented to stick on the roster in ways only starting P4 QBs are compensated, and only elite ones at that. The next time some dildo writes clickbait about Manning being a flight risk, remember this. Then, stop handwringing and tell others to shut the fuck up about it. Texas has the best QB room in CFB for the 2024 season and that's not by cheap accident.

Royal said, in response to the accusation that Texas bought players, too: “If I ever turned the Texas Exes loose on buying players, there wouldn’t be any left for anyone else”.

Lulz.

More

"CKD" triggers the fuck out of me. I hope Texas fans never pick up that dumb SEC shit.

I remember you talking about this. IIRC, it was the change to the oil in the french fry machine that was the last straw.

Rocketing up draft boards (at least in the estimation of some well-known and connected draft guys): Dane Brugler's mock has Murphy going at 16 in the first round. https://theathletic.com/5203443/2024/01/16/nfl-mock-draft-2024-two-rounds-quarterbacks/ Daniel Jeremiah's mock has Murphy at the number 11 pick. Calls him the best DT in the draft. https://www.nfl.com/news/daniel-jeremiah-2024-nfl-mock-draft-1-0 Jim Nagy (heads the Senior Bowl) had said a few weeks back in an interview that he thought Murphy would surprise some people and be drafted much earlier than expected.

I prefer not to document my parents descent into paranoia and their journey to becoming openly and proudly racist.

Duane Akina posts on Surly under the handle LtTxFan

Cascading Style Steve

The irony of Georgia or Bama people complaining about how other programs are spending is overdose-level absurd comedy.

It’s probably just unprecedented to him.

Doesn't seem possible.

So this is what the Death Star we were promised looks like.

To: Alabama Football Staff From: CKD Subject: A Fork in the Road Going forward, to build a breakthrough Twitter Bama 2.0 and succeed in an increasingly competitive world, we will need to be extremely hardcore. This will mean working long hours at high intensity. Only exceptional performance will constitute a passing grade. Bama will also be much more football-driven. Recruiting and roster management will still be very important and report to me, but those coaching football will constitute the majority of our team and have the greatest sway. At its heart, Bama is a football team, so I think this makes sense. If you are sure that you want to be part of the new Bama, please click yes on the link below: Anyone who has not done so by 5pm ET tomorrow (Thursday) will receive three months of severance. Whatever decision you make, thank you for your efforts to make Bama successful. CKD

I'm excited to be part of the UofA staff. I'll say the same to UT. What?

Akina posts like everyone's 70 year old parent or grandparent on twitter or Facebook. No wonder all the fucking olds here love him.

I'm getting a kick out of imagining Saban sitting in his new office, waving Bama players in to sit and talk, and then slipping them Sark's direct dial number.

Helm won't surprise me. I think he's going to wind up drafted and playing for awhile in the NFL. I don't see that after next season, but I think he's on that journey if he stays 5 years. He's showing improvement year over year in every part of his game as he adds weight and strength. I think we'll see plenty of Helm and Niblack on the field together. I wasn't really talking about the players. He came in and immediately fired over 30 roles on staff. He's not even spoken to most of the people there that he inherited that he hasn't fired yet. This isn't some sad sack group of personnel. Most of these people are considered elite at what they do and will find themselves in other big time spots when they exit the Bama program. He's already torn out infrastructure that wasn't required to be dismantled. It's not like he's been tasked with cutting costs or killing the culture. He's also been reluctant to meet with $$ and Saban. It's a bold strategy.

?

Sometimes you can drive your porch…

My favorite cover

What happened? Did SI put itself on its own cover?

Perfect timing for Robinson to commit to Florida.

So one of my really good friends has become very anti-trans. We haven't had a discussion about it yet as I did not know, but his younger brother mentioned it to me the other day. It's definitely triggered by the women's athletic side of it...he has a daughter playing sports. I'm gonna tell him a story about my family and hope it changes his perspective. I have a relative who is transsexual. My dad's first cousin, his name is Omid. He's probably around 70 years old now and lives in Virginia. Omid was born a female. He was born and raised in Karaj, Iran. He was a girl growing up but definitely felt like a boy. He met another girl who felt the same way. They were good friends and were there for each other. Eventually sometime in the 70's, he decided to make the transition. I don't know most of the details, but he had to go through a lot of psychiatric evaluations and eventually went to Paris to get some surgeries done. He eventually moved to America and has lived here ever since. Think about it. Omid did this shit in the SEVENTIES. And grew up with all of this IN FUCKING IRAN. I can't imagine how difficult making that transition had to be. I have been inspired by his bravery and resolve. I've only known him as Uncle Omid. Just the sweetest, kindest, and happiest person I've ever met. Didn't even know he was born female until I was in college. The Iranian side of my family is very loving, but not particularly progressive which is understandable growing up in Persian culture. But they all love Omid and always supported and embraced him. I feel lucky to have someone like him in my life.

I'm going to guess this particular strategy wasn't fleshed out in the interview process.

This is the pic that had notakitten shamelessly lying to his father. It's like the clouds parted and I understood the meaning of life when I saw it.

This was the fascinating thing about the DeBoer hire. From strictly a coaching standpoint, he might be the best football coach in the country. He’s won everywhere he’s been with elite offenses, well-coached defenses, and routinely overcome talent disadvantages. The guy’s 101-9 for his career if you take out the Covid year with Fresno State, and he’s 34-6 his last 3 years at a D1 without coaching stacked programs. But his recruiting abilities and program management are massive question marks. He’s never shown he can operate a D1 program successfully long term. UW was in for a huge step back next year, and he didn’t do a good job of restocking the cupboard for Year 3 before he left. Now he’s tearing down one of the best rosters in the country so he can restart it the same way he did at 4-8 Fresno State and 4-8 UW. Maybe it will work because he’s a great coach, but he’s essentially lighting on fire every advantage that came with taking the Bama job after Saban. Whether or not he wins there, I’m all for DeBoer turning Bama into a well-coached but less talented team, a la Oklahoma State with Gundy. Maybe we should send him some nice OAN fishing shirts while we’re at it.

If you’re reading this thread, and you have the means, and you’re not donating to TOF, you need to get in the motherfucker.

I'll have YOU KNOW my GRANKIDS are the MOST adorable children on THE PLANET.

Wondering how accurate these subtitles are. His best bet is to surrender to Ukraine

You can't replace that kind of terroir. The fries were never the same.

Sabanfreude.