Year two is a crucial one for Kalen DeBoer at Alabama. He's not on the hot seat, regardless of what some might say, but he spent the offseason recovering his perception with the fanbase. Everyone is bought in for 2025, but another season that ends short of the College Football Playoff would remove all the goodwill he worked so hard to earn back.
In an appearance on Golic & Golic on the FanDuel Sports Network, DeBoer discussed entering into his second season with the Crimson Tide and how things are more comfortable now for him and his players. You can watch a clip of the interview below:
Kalen DeBoer is ready for year two.
— FanDuel Sports Network (@FanDuelSN) August 4, 2025
The @AlabamaFTBL head coach talks about entering his second season. pic.twitter.com/6BAcCcLHcs
DeBoer seems more comfortable in the job this time around. He seems to understand the expectations better now because he's seen them. Greg Byrne laid it out for him last January when he offered him the job, but it's different hearing about it and experiencing it.
DeBoer talked up the continuity of this team and coaching staff. Alabama brings back a significant amount of talent from a year ago, and retained almost the entire coaching staff while adding an elite play-caller in Ryan Grubb, who was DeBoer's top lieutenant for many years before choosing to stay in Seattle last year as the OC of the Seahawks rather than follow DeBoer to Tuscaloosa.
A year two leap has been the norm for Kalen DeBoer in his coaching career
Improvement from year one to year two has been a staple of Kalen DeBoer's coaching career.
His first head coaching job was at the University of Sioux Falls in the NAIA division. His first team went an impressive 11-2, but in his second year, they jumped all the way to 14-0 and won the first of three NAIA National Championships during DeBoer's five-year tenure.
At Fresno State, DeBoer's first team went just 3-3 during the COVID-shortened 2020 season, but saw a significant year two jump with a 9-3 mark. That improvement led to DeBoer being offered the head job at Washington. The Huskies were immediately good under DeBoer, going 11-2 in his first season and winning the Alamo Bowl, but his second team in Seattle went 14-1 and finished as the National Runner-Up.
A similar leap should be expected of the 2025 Crimson Tide. Doing it in the SEC is different than the PAC-12, Mountain West, or at the NAIA level, obviously, but everything is in place for this Alabama team to be among the nation's elite.