Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer has received some criticism this year amid the team’s perceived underachievement, but the Crimson Tide’s College Football Playoff win over Oklahoma has some backing down a bit.
Former Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram is one of them. Ingram had to apologize to DeBoer after the former Alabama running back had questioned whether the Crimson Tide even belonged in the playoff field after losing to Georgia in the SEC Championship. He did, however, try to play it off as a motivational tactic.
“I was throwing the rat poison out there and clearly y’all heard me because we went out to Norman and we did the job,” Ingram said on “The Triple Option” podcast. “And we gonna do the job again in a few weeks. You know I go harder for ‘Bama than anybody in the nation. I go harder for you than anybody in the nation. Did I feel like we left our destiny in the committee’s hands? Yes, I did. But at the end of the day, I root for ‘Bama, I want Bama in the playoff, I want Bama to win the natty, I want Bama to ball every single time we on the field, so I do apologize.”
“I was throwing the rat poison out there.”@markingramII and @KalenDeBoer
— The Triple Option (@3xOptionShow) December 23, 2025
discuss Mark saying the committee could have left @AlabamaFTBL out of the #CFBPlayoff pic.twitter.com/3smOh6Wss9
There have been times this season that DeBoer has been the target of criticism from fans and players alike. He still is not out of the woods, but he can at least point to the Crimson Tide’s comeback win over Oklahoma as evidence that he can get the job done with such a big program.
Comments like Ingram’s apparently served as fuel for Alabama’s players. Maybe DeBoer will want him to keep it going.
