The weight of the Alabama job is now bearing down on Kalen DeBoer for the first time

Everyone drank the Kool-Aid and wanted to believe in Alabama football over the offseason. Kalen DeBoer did a masterful job building positive momentum to the point that, for a moment, fans had forgotten about the disappointing 9-4 debut season for the Tide's head coach.

While some fans immediately turned on DeBoer following last season's loss to Vanderbilt, the more realistic in the fanbase knew he deserved a little bit of grace in replacing the greatest coach in the history of the sport.

That grace extended one game into the 2025 season. With one loss to Florida State to open the season, fans completely turned on DeBoer and no longer believe he is the right man for the job in Tuscaloosa.

Fan outrage is one thing. Booster unrest is another entirely. And for the first time in his short tenure, a report of booster unrest hit the presses. That's the first sign of real pressure on DeBoer, the first sign that the weight of the job is beginning to crash down upon him.

One season and one game is not enough time to draw meaningful conclusions, but there have been enough concerning trends through 14 games to question whether Greg Byrne made the right hire when he poached DeBoer out of Washington.

It has been a long time since an "anonymous booster" has had anything to say about Alabama football. It was prevalent during the Mike Shula, Dennis Franchione, and Mike DuBose days, but completely disappeared during Nick Saban's 17-year run of dominance.

With Alabama's season already on the brink, and the threat of missing the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff for a second consecutive year looking more and more likely, it shouldn't come as a surprise to hear of potential unrest for the shotcallers at UA.

Alabama has always been a difficult job. The expectations have always been unbelievably high, with little time afforded to coaches to right the ship. That was true before Saban. Now, expectations are even higher. Patience is even thinner.

It's getting late fast for Kalen DeBoer's time at Alabama

While I still feel it's unlikely that DeBoer's job is on the line this season, barring an outright DuBose-level collapse of course, the story published today by On3 makes me think a little bit differently.

DeBoer's buyout is sky-high, which makes it challenging to fire him without cause, even if the season goes off the rails. Alabama will owe him 90% of the remaining contract balance if he's terminated without cause, which would be close to $60 million at the end of this season. That's a steep price to pay.

Alabama might have gotten a little bit of help with that buyout figure, however, with an on-field sponsorship with the U.S. Navy's Maritime Industrial Base Program. That's going to be added revenue that will preferably be funneled through the program's NIL funds, but could be re-routed toward a potential buyout if necessary.

If Alabama was going to make a move, it would need to be confident it had THE guy lined up before they did it. Because it would be open season once again on Alabama's talented roster - and 2026 recruiting class, which ranks among the best in the country.

DeBoer was asked on Wednesday during the weekly SEC coaches' teleconference what his response would be to the boosters who have expressed concern about the direction of the program under his leadership.

“My message is that our team is – I think we’ve got a good football team that can do some big things still this year," DeBoer said. "We’ve got to prove it, we’ve got to go do it. And to this point, it’s been just me being able to focus on football, and I appreciate that.”

DeBoer better hope he's right, and that the Alabama team that fans and boosters saw against Florida State last weekend - the same one they were forced to watch last year in losses to Vanderbilt, Oklahoma, and Michigan - is not what the same team they will see repeatedly in 2025.

If it is, 2026 is far from guaranteed for him.