Alabama fans can point to several football players that represented the program in a first-class way.
Damien Harris, a former five-star running back, is one of them. He came to the Crimson Tide from Kentucky in 2015, helping Alabama to two College Football Playoff National Championships in 2015 and 2017. Things did not pan out for him in the National Football League, but Harris has landed an opportunity in broadcasting. He is a college football analyst for CBS Sports and Harris was not happy about one thing in particular during his Alma mater’s loss last week to Vanderbilt University.
RELATED: Former Alabama QB credits Vanderbilt for ‘dominating’ the Crimson Tide
Malachi Moore, a fifth-year senior, had a moment in the fourth quarter he would love to have back.
The safety and Alabama native let his emotions get the best of him.
He had a series where he shoved a Vanderbilt player’s head on the ground, threw his mouthpiece on the ground, and disrespected his coaching staff. He was also flagged for an unsportsmanlike penalty in the Commodores 40-35 upset victory.
Moore, a team captain, is known for his passion and calm demeanor. The latter of the two was not on display and his teammates spoke on it to reporters after the game. No one knows what method of discipline the coaching staff will use to get the message across to Moore and others that no one is bigger than the team, but something needs to be done.
Harris ripped Moore on a segment via CBS, calling his tantrum ‘complete and utter bull****.’
📺Our co-host, former Alabama RB Damien Harris (@DHx34), rips Alabama DB Malachi Moore for his tantrum against Vanderbilt.
“What you did on that field was complete and utter bull****. You are a two-time captain.”
On tmrw’s Until Saturday: https://t.co/2rlzM0YjjQ @davidubben pic.twitter.com/ZZnjgNMsfn
— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) October 7, 2024
“I could tell y’all what would have happened in the days I was there,” Harris said. “We would have tried to rip the C off of his jersey. We would have lit him up from every coach and every player. Reuben Foster, Minkah Fitzpatrick, Da’Ron Payne, Jalen Hurts, Jerry Jeudy, everybody would have been on this dude’s head. Like we don’t do that. What is up with that? If we go out there and get beat, we are going to handle all of our issues internally. No guy is bigger and above this program so you don’t get to act like that.”
RELATED: Lane Kiffin pauses presser to watch Alabama lose to Vanderbilt
Harris also puts blame on Coach DeBoer for allowing Moore to act the way he did.
“You go and you look at what Kalen DeBoer said,” Harris said. “In his postgame press conference about Malachi Moore he says, ‘Oh you know, he is one of our guys and he’s one of our leaders and yeah we expect him to use this and only bring positivity for the rest of the season.’ Man, damn that. What’s up with that? Nick Saban would have said that? No, that’s bull****. That does not help you win games. That does not help you control the talent in the level of guys that you have never coached before, guys that you have never had experience with, at a program where you don’t know what it takes to win these kinds of games, and you are coming in here trying to be everybody’s buddy. You are trying to be everybody’s friend. Well what does that get you? That gets you beat against Vandy on the road. That pisses me off because I got some hardware. I was somebody that did it, I was somebody that lived it. I have two national championships, three SEC titles. I lived it. I lived by the code. I played the game the right way, I listened. I had somebody there in Nick Saban who put me in a position to be accountable for my performance, good or bad.”
Harris said he is not seeing the accountability from DeBoer where the program is concerned.
Strong words from an alum who played under Saban. DeBoer has to get this fixed.
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Stephen M. Smith is the senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @CoachingMSmith.
