Despite his new deal, Kalen DeBoer still hasn't answered Alabama's biggest question

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TAMPA, Fla. — The main takeaway from Day 922 of Kalen DeBoer's tenure at Alabama was roughly the same as his first day on the job.

It's OK not to be as sure as the school that just gave him another contract extension for winning one College Football Playoff game.

After eight losses in two seasons, an all-encompassing embarrassment against Indiana 6 1/2 months ago and dozens of press conferences where he says he understands the magnitude of this challenge with an energy more befitting a philosophy professor than football coach, the existential question about Alabama football under DeBoer remains the same.

Is he really the guy?

We're not talking about living up to the standard of Nick Saban. Even for $12.5 million a year, you can't ask a man to chase a ghost.

What you can ask, and what Alabama fans must demand, is a coach who embodies the confidence and ethos of their brand. So when DeBoer shows up at his third SEC media days and can't give a straightforward answer to the foundational issue of his entire existence as the Alabama football coach, it throws up a crimson red flag as big as Bryant-Denny Stadium itself.

Asked Wednesday whether his time in Tuscaloosa will be defined by whether he wins a national championship, DeBoer's answer was a candid but unsettling window into his soul.

"I certainly know that that's an important part of what's happening in the program, so I wouldn't doubt that that's the case," DeBoer said. "I'm not focused on that. I'm focused on just helping our program be the best and trying to bring out the best and raise the level of effort around me from the coaching staff to our players, trying to maximize what we're capable of every single day."

C'mon Kalen, you're not at Washington anymore. This isn't a "try hard and let the chips fall where they may" kind of job. It's Ala-freaking-bama. Even for a fan base that largely understands the Saban era was a once-in-a-lifetime anomaly, any coach who tap dances around the expectations will eventually find the metal toe hovering over his neck.

And the problem for DeBoer is he's yet to produce The Moment of every great coaching tenure where the skepticism is replaced by inevitability.

For Saban, it was in Year 2 when Alabama lost to Florida in the SEC championship but came close enough to portend championships were around the corner. For Kirby Smart, it was emerging from the Rose Bowl duel with Baker Mayfield and Oklahoma, delivering a high Georgia fans hadn't felt in decades. It took Dabo Swinney longer, but when Clemson went toe-to-toe with Alabama in its first national title game, the entire perception of the program changed in an instant.

DeBoer hasn't delivered anything like that. Instead, it's been some really good wins, some inexplicable losses and limping into the playoff once in his first two years. Given the evidence on hand, it's not just fair to wonder whether he can do it, it's an obligation to keep asking.

"We've got to go out and prove it," DeBoer said. "We understand there's an expectation that it's different at Alabama. We signed up for that."

There's a notable contradiction in DeBoer still coaching in prove-it mode while his contract already functions as a coronation.

In April, Alabama approved a new 7-year deal worth $87.5 million, making it cost prohibitive for either side to walk away. Even if DeBoer decided after this season that he'd rather get a fresh start somewhere else, it would cost $10 million. At minimum, the two sides are married to each other for at least another couple years.

Why make that kind of bet on a coach who hasn't even sniffed a national title at your school? In a sense, it was a statement from athletic director Greg Byrne that he's not going to be bullied into a coaching change unless there's just rank incompetence — which would almost certainly mean the end of his tenure, too.

"Our expectations at Alabama are high," Byrne told reporters at SEC spring meetings in Destin, Florida. "That's what you sign up for when you come to Alabama. That hasn't changed. What I also believe, though, is the idea of changing the coach every two or three years is absolutely ludicrous and when you have a coach you believe in like we believe in Coach DeBoer, you want to have stability in that.

"You'll have a lot of really good times and you'll have some challenging times. Everybody's going to face that as our world has changed so our extension shows our commitment and belief in him, and we value stability at Alabama."

That is a rational stance for an athletic director, but Byrne does not operate in a rational world. Yes, sometimes we all underrate the difficulty of winning a national title — only one team can do it, after all — but the test for DeBoer is going to be more about feelings than scoreboards.

DeBoer is a good coach who has a lot of resources at his disposal, so winning a lot of games is practically a given. Whether he can make his fan base feel like they're above the SEC's huddled masses, operating with the confidence that their next national title is more of a promise than a lottery, is the real standard he must meet.

DeBoer sent the message Wednesday he isn't eager to judge his tenure on whether that goal comes to fruition. His problem as he begins Year 3 is that everyone else will.

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