You don't have to tell Kalen DeBoer, the Alabama team, or fans of the program how vital the 2025 season is. DeBoer needs to win, for himself and the trajectory of the program. Last season's disappointing 9-4 record, which culminated in missing the College Football Playoff, cannot be repeated.
But is DeBoer actually on the hot seat in Tuscaloosa after just one season? Veteran SI reporter and columnist Pat Forde seems to think so...sort of.
Forde penned a column on Wednesday that placed eight SEC coaches on the hot seat heading into the 2025 season, with DeBoer among them. Forde notes that DeBoer's seat isn't burning to the same intensity as Oklahoma's Brent Venables or Arkansas' Sam Pittman, or even uncomfortably toasty like Auburn's Hugh Freeze or Florida's Billy Napier, but that could change quickly if things go south in Tuscaloosa this season.
That's just the reality of being the head coach at Alabama. There was a non-insignificant number of Alabama fans who were ready to fire DeBoer last season for daring to lose four games. Expectations aren't always fair as the head coach of the Crimson Tide, but that comes with the territory and is something DeBoer should have known before hopping on that plane with Greg Byrne 18 months ago.
What would it take for Kalen DeBoer to be fired this season?
Likely a monumental meltdown, perhaps of Mike DuBose proportions. DuBose led Alabama to the SEC Championship in 1999, saw soaring expectations and the Tide ranked preseason No. 3 to open the 2000 season, and then promptly fell flat on his face. Alabama went 3-8, and DuBose was let go.
Forde's sentiment is similar. He writes:
"The only way DeBoer is in serious trouble is if this season falls apart and the Crimson Tide are out of playoff contention by November. It's too early and he's too expensive to make a rash move, unless the results are rashly terrible."
DeBoer signed an 8-year, $87 million contract with Alabama to become the Tide's head coach. His contract is 90% guaranteed, meaning if Alabama pulled the trigger on firing him, they would owe him 90% of the remaining contract balance. That would mean after this season, his buyout would still be around $60 million.
Texas A&M bit the bullet and fired Jimbo Fisher despite owing him over $70 million, but Alabama doesn't have the same kind of big-money boosters that the Aggies have. Would Alabama pull the trigger on firing DeBoer if things went really south? Almost certainly, but it would be a move that would be detrimental to the program's ability to compete going forward with the amount of money they would have tied up.
So, not only would it take a complete bottoming out in 2025, but also probably Alabama's prized recruiting class completely falling apart. Byrne would have to believe that keeping DeBoer is more detrimental to the program than the temporary, scaled-back resources that would have to be diverted to pay the buyout.
Unless a year like that happens, DeBoer's job is probably safe for the foreseeable future, even if the unthinkable happens and the Tide misses the playoff for a second consecutive season.