Alabama
Why Kalen DeBoer told Alabama players not to get cigar ash on his black hoodie
After Alabama football finished beating Tennessee on Saturday, Crimson Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer fielded yet another question about his signature garment. Is he just wearing the black hoodie to humor fans, or is he actually superstitious about how much better his record with the Crimson Tide is when he wears it?
DeBoer, of course clad in the hoodie during his postgame press conference, laughed at the query.
“This isn’t new,” DeBoer said. “I’ve done this for years. But we’re gonna ride the momentum. I told the guys not to put any ashes, or get any ashes on it. Whatever works.”
A quick glance back through the internet archive shows DeBoer wearing a similar hoodie while the head coach at Washington and Fresno State. The current model remained undamaged from postgame victory cigars following the 37-20 win on Saturday.
Just as many things did at Alabama during Nick Saban’s tenure, from lucky pennies to Little Debbie cakes to Ferrari Wednesday, the fixation on DeBoer’s hoodie has exploded in recent weeks. It first attracted attention due to a viral social media post showing his Alabama record was markedly better when he wears the hoodie.
That mark moved to 14-2 on Saturday when the Tide avenged last year’s loss to the Volunteers.
Before Alabama’s win over Missouri last week, Tiger head coach Eli Drinkwitz jumped on the SEC’s weekly media teleconference to ask his Alabama counterpart if he planned on keeping up the tradition.
“Hey Kalen,” Drinkwitz began. “Are you gonna wear the black hoodie of death on the sideline this game, with us wearing black jerseys?”
DeBoer let Drinkwitz know that the hoodie would likely make the trip.
“Oh, coach Drink,” DeBoer said, pausing for a moment before continuing as Drinkwitz audibly laughed. “I gotta fit in somehow. More than likely. We’ll see what the forecast is. I kind of know, but yeah, I’m expecting that, so it’s kind of got its own life of its own right now.”
One of DeBoer’s hoodies from last season is currently on exhibit in the Paul W. Bryant Museum on campus in Tuscaloosa. The coach and his famous shirt will be back in action next week, when Alabama travels to South Carolina.
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Alabama
Beloved Alabama flight instructor killed in Montana plane crash with father, sister was ‘exceptional and skilled’
An Alabama woman killed in a plane crash alongside her father and sister is being remembered as a dedicated flight instructor.
Lainey Anderson was a certified flight instructor at Sanders Flight Training Center in Jasper.
The crash happened while Anderson, her father, Huntsville pilot Mark Anderson and younger sister, Ellie, were en route to a family vacation.
Misty Anderson, the victims’ wife and mother and a Huntsville banker, was on a commercial flight to meet her family in Montana.
Lainey was a graduate of Auburn University professional flight program and a was a member of Alpha Chi Omega sorority.
“Lainey was an exceptional and skilled aviator and a beloved flight instructor at our Jasper campus,” Sanders Aviation posted on Facebook. “She was dedicated to her craft and students.”
“Her Sanders family will remember her with love and admiration,” the post read. “God Bless you and keep you, Lainey.”
Ellie was a senior at Huntsville High School.
“We are deeply saddened by the loss of a cherished member of the HHS Dance Team and a friend to many of our band and color guard students,” according to a social media post from Huntsville High School Band.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with her family, friends, teammates, and classmates during this difficult time.”
About 4:30 p.m. Friday, the Powell County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a possible downed aircraft.
The last known position was in the Bob Marshall Wilderness in Montana’s northern Powell County, said Sheriff Gavin Roselles, who is also the county’s coroner.
“Air resources were deployed from Malstrom Air Force Base in Great Falls and continued to search until around midnight.”
About 9 a.m. Saturday, Roselles said, a volunteer aircraft operating under the command of the Montana Department of Transportation Aeronautics Division, working off a weak ELT signal, located the twin-engine plane.
The scene was turned over to the U.S. Air Force which also had helicopters operating in the area, the sheriff said.
The plane was located in a remote, wooded area in Youngs Creek in the Bob Marshall Wilderness- North East of Seeley Lake.
Members of the Powell County Coroner’s Office, Missoula County Search and Rescue, the Seeley Lake Rural Fire Department with assistance from the Montana DNRC, arrived on scene around 4 p.m.
Anderson and his daughters were pronounced dead at the scene.
The sheriff’s office turned the investigation over to the FAA and NTSB.
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College Football Playoff remains unclear and chaotic midseason
With a very unclear CFP field midway through the 2025 season, Before The Snap argues why this might be the best playoff race yet.
Despite entering his second year of retirement as a head coach, Nick Saban continues to have a major influence on college football today.
Look no further than the Saturday, Oct. 18 matchup between No. 5 Ole Miss and No. 7 Georgia for proof. The matchup pits two former Saban assistant coaches against each other in a game with a lot of SEC and College Football Playoff implications.
Lane Kiffin and Kirby Smart served as the Alabama offensive and defensive coordinators, respectively, in 2015, for a Crimson Tide team that finished the season 14-1 and defeated No. 1 Clemson 45-40 in the CFP national championship game. In fact, looking back, that coaching staff was full of head coaching talent across college football today.
Here’s what you need to know about the 2015 Alabama coaching staff and where they are now:
2015 Alabama coaching staff, revisited
Head coach: Nick Saban
Now: Retired
The 2015 college football season was Year 8 for Saban as the Alabama head coach, and he put together the best coaching staff in the country. Alabama won its fourth national championship under his leadership that season, and first since 2012.
The Crimson Tide’s lone loss came to No. 15 Ole Miss on Sept. 19, dropping their record to 2-1 at the time. However, Alabama would win 12 in a row, including the SEC championship vs. Florida, a CFP semifinal against No. 3 Michigan State and the national championship against top-ranked Clemson.
Offensive Coordinator: Lane Kiffin
- Now: Ole Miss football head coach
- Career record: 112-52
Kiffin, in his second year as the Alabama offensive coordinator, had one of the easiest go-to plays in the history of college football in 2015: Hand it off to Heisman Trophy-winning running back Derrick Henry. In his first year as a starter, Henry rushed for an SEC-record 2,219 yards.
The former Tennessee and USC head coach used his Alabama tenure to rebuild his status as a coach, taking a head coach role with FAU after his Alabama gig ended unceremoniously ahead of the 2017 CFP championship game vs. Clemson.
He led the Owls to a 26-13 record to get the Ole Miss head coach offer. Kiffin has led the Rebels to a 50-18 record in his five-plus seasons leading Ole Miss. The 2025 season is Kiffin’s best shot of reaching the CFP.
Defensive Coordinator: Kirby Smart
- Now: Georgia football head coach
- Career record: 110-20
Smart has had the privilege of not only working under Saban, but also coaching under former Florida State coach Bobby Bowden. The 2015 season was Smart’s final year in Tuscaloosa, as he accepted the Georgia head coaching position on Dec. 6, 2015 — over a month before Alabama won the national title.
In his 10 years leading the Bulldogs, Smart has posted a 110-20 record and won back-to-back national championships in 2021 and 2022. He has only a 1-7 record vs. Alabama, including a 1-5 record vs. Nick Saban.
Assistant head coach/offensive line: Mario Cristobal
- Now: Miami football head coach
- Career record: 89-76
Just as Kiffin did, Cristobal used the Alabama assistant position to help rebuild his status as a coach. After logging a 27-47 career record with FIU, he joined Saban’s staff in 2013. Cristobal was an elite recruiter for the Crimson Tide, finishing as the National Recruiter of the Year by 247Sports in 2015.
The 2015 Alabama offensive line led by Cristobal won the inaugural Joe Moore Award. Cristobal actually spurned the Miami assistant position to take a role on Saban’s staff. Now as a coach at his alma mater of Miami, Cristobal has led to a 15-3 record over the last two seasons. Miami is a legitimate national title contender in Year 4 under Cristobal.
Assistant head coach/defensive backs: Mel Tucker
- Now: Unemployed
- Career record: 25-21
After being replaced as the Chicago Bears’ defensive coordinator, Tucker took a position on Saban’s staff as an assistant head coach and defensive backs coach in 2015. He followed Smart to Georgia in 2016 and eventually landed head coaching roles with Colorado (2019) and Michigan State (2020).
Michigan State fired Tucker in September 2023 following allegations of sexual harassment.
Wide receivers: Billy Napier
- Now: Florida football coach
- Career record: 61-35
Just as Cristobal had done, Napier stepped down at a different role to be on Saban’s staff. Napier accepted a position with Jimbo Fisher at FSU to be the tight ends coach but, less than a month later, he joined Saban’s staff as the wide receivers coach.
Napier was responsible for getting five-star offensive tackle Cam Robinson and five-star wide receiver Calvin Ridley to Tuscaloosa. The now-Florida football coach finds himself on the hot seat with a 21-23 record at Florida, after he went 40-12 as the Louisiana coach.
Graduate assistant: Dan Lanning
- Now: Oregon football coach
- Career record: 40-7
Lanning spent one year on the Alabama coaching staff under Saban in 2015 as a graduate assistant, working with outside linebackers. Following his year with Alabama, Lanning took an inside linebackers coaching position with Memphis under Mike Norvell.
He was hired as an outside linebackers coach by Smart in 2018 and bumped up to defensive coordinator after Tucker took the Colorado job. He was named the Oregon head coach on Dec. 11, 2021, and then helped Georgia beat Alabama in the 2022 CFP national championship game.
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/GettyImages-2242074551.webp "Piastri determined to find answers as points lead shrinks")
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