Kalen DeBoer Warned Alabama Players Not to Get Cigar Ashes on Black Hoodie amid Streak

Kalen DeBoer knows how important it is to protect the most important hoodie in the state of Alabama.

"I told the guys not to get any ashes on it," the Crimson Tide head coach said following Alabama's 37-20 victory over Tennessee on Saturday, per Blake Toppmeyer of USA Today.

While it may seem like a strange request on the surface, tradition calls for the winner of the rivalry game between Alabama and Tennessee to light up celebratory cigars. And that honor went to the Crimson Tide after their sixth straight win.

All six of those wins just so happened to occur with DeBoer wearing his black hoodie after he donned a red polo in the season-opening loss to Florida State.

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Amusing superstition or not, Alabama has looked like a completely different team when the head coach is wearing the hoodie. Saturday was the fourth straight win over a ranked opponent following conference victories over Georgia, Vanderbilt and Missouri, which has propelled the team into the middle of College Football Playoff discussions.

It did not seem like Alabama would be in those discussions when it dropped the opener 31-17 to Florida State. The Seminoles overpowered the SEC team up front and ran for 230 yards and four touchdowns.

That loss also hasn't aged well at all and has turned into an ugly one, as Florida State is 0-4 in ACC play.

As long as the Crimson Tide keep winning in the SEC, that loss ultimately won't matter. They already banked a number of impressive wins and control their own destiny in the conference race.

That is important because the CFP selection committee likely won't use the head coach was wearing a red polo against Florida State instead of his black hoodie as a metric when it evaluates Alabama.