Alabama Crimson Tide football coach Kalen DeBoer went 9-3 in his debut season in the SEC with much of the remnants of Nick Saban’s historic 2021, 2022, and 2023 recruiting classes.
In Tuscaloosa, that’s been treated as a massive leadership failure.
DeBoer, to his credit, didn’t take that sitting down. He brought Ryan Grubb back to Alabama after Grubb briefly accepted the offensive coordinator position last January before reneging on his commitment and joining the Seattle Seahawks in the same role instead.
Given Grubb’s affinity for the west coast, DeBoer needed to work extra hard to convince him that a job in West Central Alabama was still a good one. Especially after being shredded for a first-year record that most programs would celebrate.
Now he has his offensive mastermind back after watching Nick Sheridan struggle in that role last year as the season went on.
On top of that, DeBoer reeled in the No. 3 recruiting class in the 2025 cycle. The incoming freshmen will largely be on the sidelines waiting for their chance to compete after many of the aforementioned elite recruiting classes’ players run out of eligibility.
What does that mean for 2025? Well, not much for the program’s national relevancy, and more of the same coverage for DeBoer if Alabama can’t defeat the underdog Florida State Seminoles in Week 1 from Doak Campbell.
Kalen DeBoer Can Expect ‘Tenuous’ Alabama Tenure if FSU Wins Week 1
The Orlando Sentinel’s Edgar Thompson sees calls for DeBoer’s job, and regret that the Crimson Tide didn’t hire someone else to replace the retired Saban, if FSU can pull off the upset as two-score underdogs.
“DeBoer’s lackluster start at Bama hinted the best days were behind the SEC’s longtime standard-bearer. A 9-4 finish marked the Crimson Tide’s fewest wins and most losses since Saban’s first season in 2007, while marking the program’s third straight year out of the CFP. DeBoer, who has a 113-16 career record, has won big wherever he’s been and has signed consecutive top-3 recruiting classes since he arrived at Alabama,” Thompson wrote.
“If the offensive-minded DeBoer finds the right quarterback, his offense is stacked at receiver, led by sophomore star Ryan Williams, and loaded up front, while seven starters return to a defense as talented as any. But expectations are as high at Alabama as the fan base’s level of patience is low. If DeBoer’s second Crimson Tide team misses the CFP, his time in Tuscaloosa could quickly become tenuous.”
This game is a revenge game for many of the upperclassmen on Mike Norvell’s squad who watched Alabama make the 2023 College Football Playoff instead of Florida State, despite the latter being undefeated.
In many ways, it’s revenge for DeBoer, who can show that the calls for fire him without seeing what his offense looks like led by a signal-caller he specifically chose and with his play-calling guru helping him see the vision through.
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