The Alabama Crimson Tide are one of the premier programs in college football, boasting 30 conference championships and 15 national championships.
Due to this impressive history, whoever becomes the head coach faces significant pressure. Current head coach Kalen DeBoer feels this weight even more acutely after succeeding the legendary Nick Saban, arguably the best coach in the program’s history and the sport itself.
Saban led Alabama to six national championships from 2007-23. He announced his retirement following a successful 12-2 season in which the Crimson Tide won the SEC championship and made it to the College Football Playoff. Alabama lost in overtime to the eventual champion, the Michigan Wolverines, by a final score of 27-20.
DeBoer’s inaugural season did not go as expected; the Crimson Tide finished with a 9-4 record, marking the worst season since Saban’s first year in 2007 when the team went 7-6. On “The Paul Finebaum Show,” SEC Network analyst Paul Finebaum raised questions about whether DeBoer is equipped to handle the pressure of coaching such a prestigious program.
“DeBoer is an outstanding coach,” Finebaum said. “Now, my question that I throw up in the air, is he an outstanding coach at Alabama? That’s the one thing I worry about with DeBoer. Can he navigate all of the pitfalls that have gotten every Alabama coach in recent years except one?”
Finebaum is right. After Gene Stallings announced his resignation following the 1996 season and before Saban was hired in 2007, Alabama went through three coaches. During that time, the team managed to achieve three seasons with 10 or more wins, but they also experienced four non-winning seasons.
Saban successfully got Alabama back on track, never recording fewer than 10 wins after his first season as head coach. In contrast, DeBoer has already had his first season with fewer than 10 wins. Now, it’s up to him to guide the program back to success, or he may succumb to the pressures of being the head coach at one of college football’s true blue-blood programs.