Alabama Coach DeBoer Berates Player for Late Penalty in Loss to Georgia

Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer was visibly incensed on the sidelines at cornerback Dijon Lee Jr. following a personal foul penalty committed by the sophomore late in the Crimson Tide's 20-17 loss to Georgia on Saturday.

DeBoer confronted Lee, who was coming off the field, after the penalty for shoving Georgia freshman wide receiver Craig Dandridge Jr. to the ground. The infraction gave Georgia an automatic first down with less than 2:30 remaining in the game, enabling the Bulldogs to run out the clock by taking three kneel-downs. Without the penalty, Georgia would have faced a third down, and No. 6 Alabama would have had an opportunity to regain possession.

"We preach emotional maturity, and I really feel strong that across the board we had that with our team and would’ve never expected that to happen," DeBoer stated after the game. "You got to give yourself a chance. You’re out there giving everything you got. You just got to give yourself a chance. And so, emotional maturity is what it comes down to. And we’ve been pretty good at that going on the last two years."

He added, "Obviously, the moment comes up like we had just now, we didn’t respond the right way."

Lee did not speak to the media following the game and reportedly deleted his social media accounts. Senior safety Keon Sabb acknowledged the situation, saying, "He’s my brother ’til we die. So obviously, I try to uplift him. But there’s a standard that we need to play with. And on that play, he wasn’t up to the standard, and it will be addressed."

Earlier in the fourth quarter, DeBoer was also seen arguing with officials, seeking a defensive pass interference call in the end zone on a pass intended for Alabama receiver Rico Scott. "I mean, we can’t put the game in that situation where the officials come into play," DeBoer said. "And so, we just got to control the thing we can control."

Looking ahead, DeBoer emphasized the team's need to regroup. "For us, it’s got to be, ‘Get back to work.’ The season doesn’t slow up for us. You find out the character of our football team. I believe I know what that looks like, but that will be certainly what we need to have happened in our response coming next week."

Alabama, now 5-1 on the season, is scheduled to play No. 15 Tennessee on the road next week. "My feeling is that we’ll get back to work," DeBoer commented. "That’s what was said down there [in the locker room], and that’s what was talked about so they can make sure they don’t have the feelings that they have down in the locker room right now."