When Alabama Football loses a game under Kalen DeBoer

Few Alabama Crimson Tide fans expect Alabama Football to run the table in the 2024 season, or have an undefeated regular season. Not that it couldn't happen; it could but it's unlikely.

A problem for Alabama Crimson Tide fans, and thereby one for Kalen DeBoer as well, is discomfort with losing. The main reason why is Nick Saban's Alabama coaching record. Five Crimson Tide head coaches have produced winning percentages above 81%. The highest is Nick Saban at 87.7%.

Can Kalen DeBoer reach the Crimson Tide's 81%-plus coaching club? DeBoer's two Washington teams won 89.3% of their games. Making that number more impressive is the season before DeBoer led the Huskies, Washington was 4-8.

DeBoer does not face a turnaround situation in Tuscaloosa. What he faces is much harder; following Nick Saban. It is difficult to guess how adept Kalen DeBoer is in bouncing back from losses. In DeBoer's four FBS seasons, his teams lost nine games, with six of the losses at a place familiar with losing; Fresno State. A snippet of DeBoer's coaching history might be meaningless, but his 2021 Fresno State team lost three games. Three consecutive wins followed every loss.

Paul Finebaum recently made some sense, stating "The one thing this coach (DeBoer) has never experienced is the chaos of a loss at Alabama. It's not like any place else." 'Chaos' is a bit of hyperbole but Finebaum is right, Alabama football losses often elicit extreme reactions.

"Not like any place else" also applies to another reaction by Crimson Tide fans. For Alabama, there is no such thing as a good loss. The Crimson Tide is supposed to win every game and that perspective turns every loss into a bad loss. The situation might change in the post-Saban era of Alabama football. A close loss to Georgia in September might not fuel panic. A loss to the Bulldogs in a not-close game would test the confidence level of Alabama fans.

Kalen DeBoer will be unaffected by negative Alabama football fans

Coaches know better than to gauge success or failure by the responses of fans. Gene Stallings once said any coach paying too much attention to fans would end up sitting in the stands with them; as in a sure exit path from coaching.

Kalen DeBoer has surrounded himself by arguably, one of the best Crimson Tide staffs of recent years. They are smart, enthusiastic, energetic - and most of all, like DeBoer, they appear unshackled from ego-driven 'I' thinking. Instead, they come across as laser-focused on how to make themselves, fellow staff members, and the players better. If that hunch proves accurate, Alabama football fans will have few losses to process.

Note: Team and coach records provided by Sports Reference