Kalen DeBoer knew how challenging the job he accepted would be when he left Washington to become the head coach at Alabama.
It’s never easy to replace a coach who already has a statue built in his honor in Tuscaloosa. But DeBoer replaced someone in Nick Saban who may have a strong case for the College Football Hall of Fame to be named after him.
That has given him higher-than-normal expectations as he enters Year 3 in Tuscaloosa, something he says he never has or will shy away from.
“I think you can talk about how great of a job Coach Saban did in building the program to what it is and the expectations. I just know my past experiences being part of places that have the pride and tradition on the extreme high level like Alabama has would be something I wanted to be a part of,” DeBoer reflected on Wednesday at SEC Media Days in Tampa.
“ … I understand what took place and happened here during the great times and Coach Saban leading the charge here. I also love the challenge of trying to continue to build on that and add to this program’s great history.”
DeBoer’s first two seasons leading the Crimson Tide haven’t been a debacle by any means. Alabama was the first team out of the College Football Playoff in 2024 and made last year’s CFP, winning a first-round game at Oklahoma before losing in the second round.
DeBoer is 20-8 leading the program and has a remarkable record of success most fanbases would welcome without a second thought.
But Alabama’s fanbase — fresh off nine SEC titles and six national championships in 17 seasons with Saban — is not most fanbases. And Alabama’s ignominious 38-3 Rose Bowl loss to eventual champion Indiana last season was a harsh reminder that Saban is gone and there will likely never be another him.
Alabama is still accumulating talent at an impressive rate, with its high-school recruiting classes ranking in the top three nationally in each of the last three cycles under DeBoer, according to 247Sports.
There have been some highs, including a pair of wins over Georgia. But there have also been some severe lows, which rarely happened under Saban.
With a loss at SEC afterthought Vanderbilt in 2024 and a 2025 season-opening loss to a Florida State team coming off a 2-10 campaign, it took DeBoer just 14 games to lose as many games against unranked teams (four) as Saban did in his entire tenure.
That’s more of a stat praising Saban than condemning DeBoer. And yet, it’s exactly why he may be on a slightly hotter seat entering this season than any coach should be given what he’s accomplished through two seasons at a job.
It also explains why Alabama may be a bit under-the-radar in the SEC entering 2026, with the focus on the likes of powerhouse programs Georgia and Texas, Lane Kiffin’s controversial LSU move and Ole Miss, without Kiffin, coming off a CFP semifinal appearance.
Maybe a little less national attention will be what DeBoer needs to fill what could be the world’s largest shoes in Tuscaloosa this fall.
