Nick Saban has never been afraid to speak his mind. That hasn't changed in retirement.
Despite Alabama preparing to enter its third football season since Saban's retirement, Tide fans still consider his word gospel. Though his opinion on Kalen DeBoer and the job he has done at Alabama likely runs in direct contradiction to a non-insignificant portion of the fanbase, providing the ultimate litmus test for Saban's gospel.
Earlier on Wednesday, Saban defended the contract extension Greg Byrne gave to DeBoer last week. Later, he joined Paul Finebaum and doubled down on that opinion, while calling out Alabama fans for some of the negativity that currently surrounds the program like angry clouds.
“I think what Alabama fans need to understand is they have a tremendous amount of passion, and I respect that, and they have high expectations, and I respect that, Saban said, via 247's Mike Rodak. ..."But I also think there’s an element of support and positive energy that goes with having a successful program. ...
"I can’t speak for our fans, but I think if they want to be successful, they need to be supportive of the people that are there right now in every way that they can. Because all the negative noise out there is not gonna help us be successful, and I want to see us be successful.”
Nick Saban calls for support and "positive energy" for Alabama fans toward Kalen DeBoer
Saban set an impossible standard in Tuscaloosa that anyone was going to have an incredibly difficult time living up to. Throw in the massive monkey wrench of this era of NIL and the Transfer Portal, and the job became that much harder.
Nobody is going to enjoy the same success Saban did during his Alabama heyday. You could drop prime Saban back in Tuscaloosa right now, and even he wouldn't have the same level of success. It's a much different world now.
That's difficult for Alabama fans to accept.
That also doesn't mean DeBoer and his staff are above reproach, either. There are things that have deserved criticism, and just because things won't be the same as they were before, it doesn't excuse five touchdown losses in the Rose Bowl or three losses to bad teams in two years (Vanderbilt, Oklahoma in 2024, and Florida State in 2025).
But the overwhelming anger and vitriol about this era of Tide football has been too much for a coach who has won 20 games in two years and led Alabama to the College Football Playoff this past season.
There's certainly an in between that can be found between support and constructive criticism that doesn't cross the line into dysfunction that ultimately hampers Alabama's perception to future recruits.
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