Tuscaloosa, Alabama - The Crimson Tide is a football program used to seeing firsts – but this season, they've all been of the unwanted kind.

For only the second time in the past nine seasons, Alabama will miss the College Football Playoffs and fans are worried sick.

Alabama enters its annual late-November Iron Bowl against in-state rival Auburn with two losses – a first since the 2010 season – after losing to Tennessee during Week 7 and LSU in Week 10.

Saban will finish out his season without competing for a conference championship title or a playoff berth.

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Alabama has dominated the SEC and the CFP Playoffs since the new era in 2014. The Crimson Tide has won six of eight conference titles, two national championships, and has made seven of the last eight playoffs.

Given all that, Saban's position shouldn't determined by a single season, no matter how poor.

Then again, Alabama is the standard of the college football modern era. So what happens when that standard drops?

This season, Alabama has more undisciplined than it's ever seen been during Saban's tenure.

The Crimson Tide had 15 penalties against Texas during Week 2, 17 penalties in the nail-biting upset against the Volunteers, and nine more in the shocking defeat at LSU.

The team's out of control game plays have drawn criticism by many, including its own former players.

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"This is the first time I have ever actually been concerned about the future of the program. The first time," former Alabama quarterback and national champion Greg McElroy said on the Always College Football podcast.

He added: "I've seen everything that this program has endured the last several years, and I have never been concerned about whether or not they'd be better tomorrow than they were today. I always thought, regardless of where the program was at, that as long as Nick Saban was there, they're going to be just fine."

While McElroy did say that he doesn't believe this is the end of Alabama's dominating-run, he believes that there needs to be a change in the Crimson Tide structures and it needs to happen rather quickly.

A team is only as great as its leadership.

With Alabama playing arguably one of its worse seasons to date, a coaching change maybe the only option to restoring the winning formula.

No, not a change in head coach – but what about the coordinators?

"There needs to be a legitimate effort from Nick Saban to bring in some coaches that understand what this program looks like and what this program needs to look like," McElroy said.

Keep in mind: the majority of Alabama's coaching staff is fairly new, with many of its position coaches in their first or second year with the program.

Following the Tide's 2020 national championship winning season, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Steve Sarkisian took a head coaching position at Texas, taking Alabama's offensive line coach Kyle Flood with him.

Throughout the two years in between, several other notable coaching changes were made and once again, the Crimson Tide was left with first-year freshmen in key positions.

Alternatively, if the necessary patience is there, bringing up coaches who will be committed to staying with a program for the long-haul could pay of further down the line.

Either way, it's not for nothing that Saban is one of the greatest coaches this sport has seen. The 71-year-old walking gridiron encyclopedia knows what it takes to refocus this program.

Alabama's next game will come Saturday against Ole Miss at 3:30 PM EST.