2024 will be the season Alabama Football breaks college football

What has been the longest eight-plus months for Alabama football fans is almost over. The Alabama Crimson Tide Kalen DeBoer Era begins Saturday night in Bryant-Denny. The new era will start with a bushel basket of unknowns. The unknowns will slowly turn into knowns as the season progresses.

However well or not so well that Alabama plays against Western Kentucky, it can be said the Alabama Crimson Tide survived the transition from the GOAT to the new guy. Many have predicted coaching change would bring the storied program considerable pain and suffering, with a slide into something far below greatness.

When that doesn't happen many across the world of college football will be dismayed. Far more than just fans of other SEC programs, there has long been a collective desire for a Crimson Tide demise. Most SEC programs have been forced to bide time, hoping for the day when Nick Saban would finally step aside. Now that he has, there will be a new reality that little has changed because Alabama is still Alabama.

Crimson Tide optimism abounds as the new season begins. It is shared by players, the Alabama football fans, and almost universally by Crimson Tide fans. Kalen DeBoer has already won the offseason. Next up is winning the season.

It will be a season filled with challenges, from a vastly rebuilt roster to one of college football's toughest schedules. No doubt Alabama will take some lumps along the way. A couple of days ago, when I offered a 10-2 regular season prediction, it included my expectation Alabama will be capable of beating any team in December and January.

Those who follow Alabama football closely can see something special occurring in Tuscaloosa. It began with Nick Saban picking the right time and the right way to step away. Quickly, Greg Byrne followed making his second home-run hire as the Alabama AD. The first was Nate Oats. It took a few weeks, but next came the understanding the players who stayed were of greater value than the ones who left.

Kalen DeBoer 'runs toward the fire'

Essential to the successful transition was a confident and unawed Kalen DeBoer. It had long been predicted that Nick Saban's successor would falter in Saban's shadow. DeBoer did not see a no-win situation. Instead, he saw a rare opportunity for the kind of challenge championship mentalities relish.

In a recent superb piece by al.com's Nick Kelly, DeBoer is described as a man "who runs toward the fire." Those words came from a comment Alabama GM, Courtney Morgan made about his and DeBoer's first hours in Tuscaloosa in January. Morgan said, "We got there and we walked into the fire." Nick Kelly described it more eloquently. "DeBoer doesn’t avoid the heat. He runs toward the fire."

DeBoer and Morgan went hard at the huge tasks immediately. Quickly, Morgan was not the only great addition DeBoer made to the Alabama football staff. The other guys who came in have been outspoken about why they accepted the opportunities. All of them talk about the honor of being a part of college football's greatest program and they say something more. The primary reason they are in Tuscaloosa is their respect for Kalen DeBoer.

It did not take long for Alabama football players to voice the same level of respect. The old and new bonds created by Kalen DeBoer are strong. Strong enough, it appears to spur a championship run. If that happens, even if Alabama is to come up short in a National Championship Game, it would break much of the rest of college football. For Alabama Crimson Tide fans only a National Championship win can be glorious. But even coming up short in the big game, Kalen DeBoer proving doubters wrong could be celebrated.