Perhaps it's true that unfair expectations were placed on Kalen DeBoer in his first season as the head coach of Alabama football. But it's also true that expectations are never fair in Tuscaloosa for the football coach. The Crimson Tide is expected to be among the very best in the country every single season.
And the truth is, Alabama was well short of that expectation in 2024. They weren't a bad team. Bad teams don't win nine games in the toughest conference in the country. But they were far from a great team, and far away from where they needed to be in order to be serious contenders for a national championship.
Alabama proved, on its best days, that it was good enough to beat anyone in the country. That was proven when the Crimson Tide beat Georgia in September in a game it broke out to a 28-0 lead just 18 minutes into the action.
But it didn't have the consistency it needed in order to be serious contenders. The very next week after beating Georgia, it lost to Vanderbilt on the road. After a bounce-back win over South Carolina, the Crimson Tide lost again on the road to Tennessee.
Following a big win over LSU on the road to open the month of November, Alabama fell flat two weeks later to what ended up being a seven-loss Oklahoma team. And then with a month to prepare and to get over the disappointment of a self-inflicted playoff disappointment.
Instead, Alabama fell flat again and lost for the third time against an opponent that had five or more losses. The thought of even losing one of those types of games when Nick Saban was the head coach seemed unrealistic. Under DeBoer, betting on Alabama as a multi-score favorite was a foolish endeavor.
Losing the ReliaQuest Bowl to Michigan shouldn't change much about the 2024 season just as winning it shouldn't have made things look better than they were. The fact is that Alabama was not good enough and not prepared enough in DeBoer's first season.
A 9-4 season is the worst record for the Crimson Tide since 2007 - Nick Saban's first season as the head coach in Tuscaloosa. It breaks a streak of 16 consecutive 10+ win seasons. Alabama had already snapped a streak of 13 straight seasons with 11+ wins in year one under DeBoer.
While he's not in danger of losing his job after one season, is DeBoer on the hot seat in 2025?
The pressure will certainly be greater next season. I think it would take an absolute disaster of a season, something along the lines of 6-6, in order for Alabama to seriously consider firing DeBoer. But another season with three or four losses and another missed playoff would almost certainly put DeBoer squarely on the hot seat heading into 2026.
9-4 might be good enough at most places. It's not even close to good enough at Alabama. And in 2025, there can't be any more excuses. Next season will officially be DeBoer coaching his own roster, instead of DeBoer trying to coach a Saban roster.
2025 could prove to be a make-or-break season for DeBoer's tenure at Alabama. One way or another, another season like this will lead to widespread changes throughout his coaching staff. And he'll be sitting on the hottest seat in America heading into 2026.