Tim Keenan has been unequivocal in his support of Kalen DeBoer. Even when the noise surrounding the Alabama head coach was at its loudest following the Crimson Tide's season-opening loss to Florida State, the former Crimson Tide captain was the most vocal supporter of his head coach.
With Keenan's Alabama career now over, that still hasn't changed.
On Wednesday, Keenan was asked at the Senior Bowl about DeBoer and all the outside noise heading into his third season as the Tide's head coach. He remained resolute in his support.
"He's under a lot of fire and all that stuff, but I promise you, he's gonna come out of it way stronger," Keenan said. "A lot of people are gonna eat the words that they had to say about him."
Tim Keenan believes Kalen DeBoer will make people eat their words
The jury is still out on DeBoer's future in Tuscaloosa. He's 20-8 in two seasons in Tuscaloosa, and despite making the College Football Playoff this past season, a 38-3 loss to Indiana in the Rose Bowl left a sour taste in the mouth of Alabama fans that won't be quickly forgotten.
On one hand, you could argue that this season was a step forward. Alabama won two more games than it did in DeBoer's first season, and made the playoff after missing it in 2024. But the advanced numbers paint the picture of a worse team in 2025.
Alabama finished 20th in Bill Connelly's SP+ rankings this year. It finished 4th in that same metric after DeBoer's first season.
That's certainly cause for concern. But there's also plenty of reason for optimism.
DeBoer has landed back-to-back top-five high school recruiting classes. And Alabama was a lot more aggressive in the Transfer Portal this year, adding quality depth, particularly on both sides of the line of scrimmage.
But DeBoer's third team in Tuscaloosa is going to be really young. And that could lead to some growing pains that Alabama fans won't accept. With the amount of youth on the roster, it's fair to wonder whether 2026 is going to be a bridge year for better days in 2027 and beyond.