Kalen DeBoer’s Staff Voices Frustration With Alabama as Ryan Grubb Addresses Fan Boos: "They're Pissed"

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Alabama may have walked away from Saturday’s wild 50-36 win over Florida State with an undefeated record, but the Crimson Tide’s coaching staff clearly wasn’t ready to celebrate everything that happened in Tuscaloosa.

Defensive coordinator Kane Wommack was especially frustrated with his unit after watching Florida State rack up explosive plays throughout the afternoon. At the same time, offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb had a very different message after hearing some Alabama fans boo the team during its slow start.

The Crimson Tide eventually erased a 21-6 deficit and pulled away for the win, but the early struggles left plenty for Alabama to clean up before its next game.

Wommack didn’t sugarcoat his feelings when discussing the secondary on Monday.

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“They’re pissed, and they should be pissed,” Wommack said. “They did not do their job at a high enough level, and they are very capable of doing that. And they’re disappointed in themselves.”

The frustration came after Florida State repeatedly found big plays through the air. The Seminoles finished with 471 total yards, including 377 passing yards from quarterback Ashton Daniels. Florida State also produced nine plays of at least 20 yards, while converting 8-of-14 third downs against an Alabama defense that had allowed only one third-down conversion through its first two games.

For Wommack, the problem wasn’t something that could simply be pinned on one player.

“It was not; the blame cannot be put on any one person,” he said. “We had nine explosives.”

Wommack explained that most of those plays were isolated mistakes rather than one player repeatedly getting beaten. But that was exactly what made the performance so frustrating for him.

“When you do that, though, all it takes is one guy here and one guy there, and then you have a truly highly disappointing day,” Wommack said.

The Alabama defense did eventually make enough plays to help secure the victory. Bray Hubbard intercepted Daniels late in the fourth quarter, and the Crimson Tide held Florida State to just 15 points after halftime. Still, Wommack knows the secondary can’t afford to give up that many opportunities, especially with the SEC schedule getting tougher.

While Wommack was focused on the defensive mistakes, Grubb was looking at what happened on the other side of the ball.

Alabama’s offense started slowly against Florida State, opening the game with two straight three-and-outs while the Seminoles jumped out to a 21-6 lead. That brought some boos from the Bryant-Denny Stadium crowd.

But Grubb wasn’t interested in letting those early reactions define his players.

“I was proud of the guys, and they just didn’t have any quit,” Grubb said. “They’re a really resilient group. I’m super proud of that.”

Then came the line that grabbed everyone’s attention.

“You know, we had some boo birds,” Grubb said. “I told the guys, I said, ‘Shoot, guys, if you’d have quit as fast as some of your fans, shit, we wouldn’t have won that game.’”

Grubb’s point was simple. Alabama was down 21-6, but the players didn’t panic.

“For a bunch of 19-year-olds to go out there and just 21-6 and not flinch, I was fired up,” he said.

And the numbers backed up his argument.

After its sluggish opening, Alabama’s offense found another gear. The Crimson Tide scored on nine straight possessions, turning a 15-point deficit into a 50-36 victory. Alabama finished with 567 total yards, including 320 through the air and 247 on the ground.

Keelon Russell was at the center of that turnaround. The sophomore quarterback completed 23 of 30 passes for 320 yards and three touchdowns while adding 56 rushing yards and another score. Lotzeir Brooks also recorded his first 100-yard receiving game at Alabama, finishing with eight catches for 101 yards.

That comeback also explains why Grubb wasn’t overly concerned about the boos.

Alabama had been in trouble, but the young offense responded instead of folding. Head coach Kalen DeBoer echoed that confidence after the game, saying the team has repeatedly shown that its players have each other’s backs when adversity hits.

Still, the slow starts are becoming something Alabama has to address.

The Crimson Tide has now had to overcome early deficits in consecutive games, and Grubb acknowledged that the coaching staff is taking steps in practice to improve those starts. Alabama will need to make that adjustment quickly with South Carolina coming to Bryant-Denny Stadium next Saturday.

For now, Alabama is 3-0 and has already survived a game that could have gone badly after falling behind 21-6.

But Wommack’s frustration shows the defense can’t simply move on because the final score looked comfortable. The Crimson Tide gave up too many explosive plays, while Grubb’s comments show the offense still has plenty to prove after another slow opening.

Alabama got the win against Florida State. Now, both coordinators have made it clear that the Crimson Tide still has plenty to fix.

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