With his fourth unranked loss in 14 games at Alabama, Kalen DeBoer found himself as the punchline of Week 1 in college football, and possibly, on one of the hottest seats of any coach in the country. Now, DeBoer’s $60+ million buyout provides a measure of job security for the second-year leader of the Tide, and their 73-0 win over Louisiana Monroe was a cathartic experience at Bryant-Denny Stadium, but a Week 2 result elsewhere in the SEC may have been the most important for DeBoer.
On Saturday in Gainesville, No. 13 Florida couldn’t protect a fourth-quarter lead and fell to unranked USF 18-16. Last season, Napier navigated one of the toughest schedules in the country to finish 8-5, his first winning record in three tries at the helm for the Gators. That success, coupled with the potential of five-star freshman quarterback DJ Lagway, allowed Napier to hold onto his job. Now, he’s firmly back on the hot seat after the home upset loss, and the attention, at least nationally and around the SEC, can begin to turn away from DeBoer.
With a trip to No. 3 LSU on the schedule next week and another to Coral Gables to play No. 5 Miami in Week 4, Napier could be staring down a 1-3 start, and Florida could be hopping on the coaching carousel before Halloween. After a Week 5 bye, the Gators dive back into SEC play with Texas at home, then Texas A&M on the road with Georgia, Ole Miss, Tennessee, and Florida State still looming.
Expectations aren’t quite as high in Gainesville as they are in Tuscaloosa, but another losing season will bring the end of Napier’s tenure, and DeBoer’s season will look stable by comparison. Not that a potential disaster is anything that Alabama has ever measured itself against.
Record-setting victory won’t be enough to silence DeBoer’s critics
Alabama’s 73-0 Week 2 win over ULM will provide a momentary reprieve from the DeBoer hot seat talks at Alabama, and has settled the simmering QB controversy as Ty Simpson was perfect, completing all 17 of his pass attempts. Still, beating up on a Sun Belt opponent won’t be nearly enough to satisfy a fanbase that was spoiled by the greatest coach in the history of the sport for the 17 years prior to DeBoer’s arrival.
The real test for the Crimson Tide won’t come next week when they host Wisconsin at Bryant-Denny. It will be in Week 5 when Alabama makes the trip east to Athens for a rematch with Georgia after DeBoer’s upset win last season that vaulted the Tide to No.1 in the country. A spot that the team couldn’t hold for more than one week after losing to Vanderbilt the next Saturday.