Ohio State Buckeyes defensive tackle transfer James Smith perhaps unintentionally destroyed his former head coach, Kalen DeBoer, while explaining his decision to come to Columbus and leave the Alabama Crimson Tide behind in Tuscaloosa.
While Smith said he had "no really big reason" to transfer, and claimed he just needed a new start while talking up the Alabama football program, he later let his real feelings be known while trying not to be divisive.
Read between the lines, and you'll see that Smith basically admitted that some combination of DeBoer, Nick Saban, and/or their coaching staffs lied to him. You'll also read plainly that Smith signed up with the Tide to play for Saban, and had no hope of DeBoer living up to the same "Bama Standard."
“(Ohio State) kind of gave me, like that feeling back when I visited as a freshman with Saban, it kind of felt like that,” Smith said of choosing Ohio State. “Because here, I ain’t gonna lie, I came here, they didn’t lie to me not one time. Nothing they told me, (Ohio State defensive line coach Larry Johnson) told me, it’s gonna be hard. So I was OK with that.
“Inside the building (DeBoer) was doing his job ... He’s taking over for a big — It’s not going to be another Saban, so I don’t know, you can’t expect that out of him, but he’s doing the best he can, he’s working.
“I just feel like the intensity is different ... I wouldn’t even say the intensity, it’s just like, everything’s so intentional. Everybody’s already laid out. They came in with a new coaching staff at ‘Bama, so it’s like they’re all still trying to learn and stuff. Here it’s already stable and they already know.”
Ryan Day's practices are more intense than Kalen DeBoer's. Without question.
Smith stopped short of saying it's the intensity that separates Alabama and Ohio State, but we know it's true. Ryan Day's practices are physically testing offensive skill-position freshmen every second, whereas DeBoer famously doesn't practice as hard because he believes he can outscheme opponents, and the trenches don't need to physically dominate.
Day was ushered in from the Urban Meyer era and is approaching a decade within the Ohio State University's system. It hasn't always been easy, and he was questioned just like DeBoer. Day's program was winning Big Ten championships right away, though. The University of Alabama won't be spending enough to win the SEC while dealing with big-money programs like the Texas Longhorns and LSU Tigers in the coming years.
Smith basically just admitted that the gap between the Buckeyes and the Tide is massive. That's why Paul Finebaum believes Alabama is about to back out of its home-and-home series with Ohio State in 2027 and 2028.