Recently, Mike Pszonak defined the Tennessee Vols and the Texas A&M Aggies as two of college football's biggest disappointments of the last decade. The Nick Saban era kept the Alabama Crimson Tide off the list. Had Pszonak predicted the biggest disappointments for all of the 2020s, he would have been derided had he not chosen the Alabama Crimson Tide.
That is the terrain Kalen DeBoer will toil on when Alabama begins spring practice and throughout the 2026 season. The situation demands that DeBoer prove himself now at Alabama.
Less than 18 months ago, Alabama Crimson Tide fans were celebrating their new coach. After Alabama beat Georgia in September 2024, Kalen DeBoer's record as a Power Conference head coach was 30-3 (90.9%). Not just Alabama fans lauded DeBoer as college football's best coach.
Only days later, Alabama lost to Vanderbilt. For DeBoer and Alabama, the loss in Nashville was a sea change.
By the end of the 2024 season, Kalen DeBoer's Power Conference winning percentage had dropped to 89.7%. After last season's 11-4 record, it dropped to 80.7%. The 80-plus percent success rate remains impressive, but eight losses and 74.1% success at Alabama is not the standard the Alabama program demands.
A strong endorsement for Kalen DeBoer
Not everyone still believes in Kalen DeBoer. Josh Pate does. He recently ranked DeBoer as the seventh-best head coach in college football. Alabama football fans are still grappling with the fact that they no longer have college football's best coach. Pate ranked Kirby Smart as the best and ranked Lane Kiffin above DeBoer. Steve Sarkisian at No. 8 and Mike Elko at No. 10 also made Pate's top 10 list.
In the minds of Alabama football fans, 'the best' is the only acceptable standard for the Crimson Tide football program. Some doubt that DeBoer has a season of 'the best' in him.
Whatever happens in the 2026 season, DeBoer will likely remain in Tuscaloosa for the 2027 season. His huge buyout should protect him through 2027. But falling short of expectations in the 2026 season could lead to DeBoer choosing to take his coaching skills elsewhere. He would have no problem finding a new job. A job where success is measured more realistically than it will ever be in Tuscaloosa. In that context, 2026 could become now or never for DeBoer's tenure in Alabama.
Stretching a historical comparison provides little value. But Ray Perkins was a very good coach, who was given an impossible task of succeeding immediately after Paul 'Bear' Bryant. DeBoer was given even bigger shoes to fill, and that, too, may prove impossible.