It’s impossible to follow Nick Saban’s tenure at Alabama and reach the astronomical expectations that the greatest coach of all time set in Tuscaloosa, but through 14 games, Kalen DeBoer isn’t even coming close. Saban’s successor is 9-5 after his team’s 31-17 Week 1 loss to unranked Florida State in Tallahassee, and he now has as many losses to unranked opponents as Saban did across his 17 seasons at the helm.
Yet, despite DeBoer’s 5-5 record in his last 10 games and the alarming performance that his team put on display in Week 1, Saban has faith that DeBoer will right the ship. Though from the sound of it, he’s not so sure that DeBoer can do it alone.
Saban says he believes in Kalen DeBoer and is optimistic he’ll turn things around after the week 1 upset by FSU:
— Sidelines - Bama (@SSN_Alabama) September 5, 2025
“If you’re gonna be successful, you gotta be able to self-assess.
I know he’s reaching out to a lot of people trying to do that.”
Saban says Kalen DeBoer is turning to outside help to assess his team
The idea of self-scouting is nothing new in football, and DeBoer’s program could certainly use an internal evaluation heading into its Week 2 matchup with Louisiana Monroe at Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday night. However, many Alabama fans are alarmed about the last part of Saban’s quote: “I know he’s reaching out to a lot of people trying to do that.”
It’s just one game into the season, and DeBoer already needs a fresh set of eyes on his team? I can understand it getting stale late in the year and needing another perspective, but just a game in, the fixes should probably come from the coaches on the staff.
Now, in fairness to DeBoer, what coach on his staff is going to shoot him straight about what’s wrong with the program? Especially if he’s the problem. Plus, plenty of the Alabama fanbase has already turned on DeBoer and is ready to take issue with anything he says or anything that’s said about him. Still, from the outside, it seems as though he’s searching for answers.
Every goal that Alabama had coming into this season is still on the table. No matter how bad the loss to the Seminoles was in Week 1 (very bad) or how far the Tide fell in the AP Top 25 (13 spots to No. 21), Alabama doesn’t have an SEC loss, can still win the conference, and if not, can easily be in the mix for an at-large bid into the College Football Playoff.
The turnaround has to start this week with ULM in town and next week against Wisconsin, but the real test will come in Week 5 when Alabama travels to Athens to play Kirby Smart’s Georgia Bulldogs. If Saban still has faith, maybe Alabama fans should, too.