Taking words from a naysayer who has been proven correct, "It's a new year and a new reality for Alabama football." Alabama Crimson Tide fans are unclear about the exact new reality. Still, there is no doubt that Year 1 of Kalen DeBoer's tenure fell short of being the first season of a Kalen DeBoer Era of Alabama Football. If the Crimson Tide loses four games in the 2025 season, the word 'Era' and the name, Kalen DeBoer will never be coupled. Four or more losses next season and the DeBoer experiment will likely end with a huge buyout.
It is not just that the Alabama Crimson Tide lost four games. Worse is that three of the losses came in games in which the Alabama Crimson Tide was a two-touchdown or better favorite. Alabama did play a tough schedule and grinded out some good wins, but how the losses happened against Vanderbilt, Oklahoma, and Michigan is inexcusable. In each game, Alabama was the inferior team.
Kalen DeBoer and one bad Alabama Crimson Tide season
Stepping back from the precipice of gloom and doom is needed. Kalen DeBoer deserves a pass for the 2024 season. Mark me down as one of many Alabama Crimson Tide fans who knew the post-Saban world could result in a deep slide, but did not understand how unequipped Alabama was to find traction. The Blue Chip Ratio has been a reliable predictor of success, but it missed the mark on a 2024 Alabama roster with too many weaknesses obscured by unrealized potential.
Maybe Kalen DeBoer saw most of the deficiencies before the first loss but realized his roster options were limited. Possibly DeBoer and Sheridan mistakenly believed Jalen Milroe would develop during the season. Instead, Milroe regressed. A defensive improvement orchestrated by Kane Wommack saved the Alabama Crimson Tide from a worse meltdown. Against a schedule calculated by ESPN Analytics as the 19th toughest in the FBS, Alabama was No. 9 nationally in Scoring Defense.
Nick Saban was calculating in managing public communication. He was also sometimes bluntly honest. Alabama fans often knew from Saban what to expect. DeBoer is guarded and his words are not windows for Alabama fans to gaze into the future. What insight we have is a season of results and the understanding that 9-4 at Alabama is akin to back-to-back losing seasons at other programs. If Kalen DeBoer did not understand this uniqueness at some point during the 2024 season, we can only hope he 'gets it' now.
Kalen DeBoer's coaching record is laudable, but he has never before faced the challenge weighed on him now. No prediction of how it will play out provides any certainty.