Alabama football's dynasty had begun to take on some water in the final three seasons under Nick Saban, but it only took one season for Kalen DeBoer to kill the dynasty for good and remove the air of invincibility that had surrounded the program for nearly two decades.
It's fair to say that some of Alabama's problems started under Saban. In the last few seasons, he was on the sideline in Tuscaloosa, the Crimson Tide was one of the least disciplined teams in college football. And that cost them opportunities to win national championships.
Nothing has been the same for Alabama since the dominant 2020 season. The Tide lost to Georgia in the 2021 title game, fell short of the playoff in 2022 thanks to two regular season losses, and came up short in the semifinal a year ago.
The difference is that under Saban, you never really had to worry about losing as a multi-score favorite. Alabama simply did not lose to unranked opposition. When the Tide lost, it was typically to teams like Texas last season. Or Tennessee and LSU in 2022. The loss to unranked Texas A&M in 2021 was the first time the Crimson Tide had lost to an unranked team under Saban since his first season in 2007.
In DeBoer's first year at the Capstone, Alabama lost to three unranked teams. And all three of those teams finished with at least five losses.
During Saban's tenure, you didn't have to worry about the team looking flat and unprepared for road games against the likes of Vanderbilt and Oklahoma. That just never happened.
In fairness, that fact speaks more to Saban than it does to DeBoer. Because every team loses games like that. Losing three such games is too many and quite frankly unacceptable, but it's going to take some time for a Vegas course correction; Alabama simply should not be favored by that many points over anyone away from Tuscaloosa nowadays.
Saban made Alabama impervious to major upsets. But it's important to understand that isn't normal. Most coaches have lapses, and most teams lose games against teams they shouldn't. Avoiding those losses is part of what made Saban the best to ever do it.
DeBoer won't ever reach the heights that Saban did. And that's okay. But a big part of whether or not DeBoer is ultimately successful or not in Tuscaloosa will be his ability to win the games he's supposed to win more times than not.
Another season of losing three times to unranked, 5+ loss opponents will lead to greater consequences for DeBoer than just the disappointment of a lost season.