ESPN college football analyst excited for Kalen DeBoer’s third year at Alabama

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The 2026 college football season will already be Kalen DeBoer’s third season as Alabama’s head coach.

He took over the program before the 2024 season after Nick Saban retired and has compiled a 20-8 record over the last two seasons. He helped the team qualify for the College Football Playoff last year and beat Oklahoma in the first round before losing to Indiana in the quarterfinals.

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DeBoer will now try to take the Crimson Tide a step further this year, which has ESPN’s Greg McElroy excited. He also doesn’t think DeBoer is in any jeopardy of losing his job.

“Kalen DeBoer is in absolutely no jeopardy of losing his job,” McElroy said on ESPN’s “Get Up.” “Now, is there pressure to perform? Of course, it’s Alabama. Just like there is at Ohio State for Joey and Oklahoma for Dusty. I think when you look at Kalen DeBoer, he was offered a blank check by Michigan at the end of last season. He decided to turn that down; therefore, he got a contract extension at Alabama because of the leverage that he had in that situation. He got his pay raised; he got an extension, a couple of extra years, and now it costs $67 million for him to leave.”

“The group is rallying behind Kalen DeBoer, so anyone that suggests that there is not alignment in Tuscaloosa is just flat out wrong. There’s also the people that have evaluated the program; they see progress year over year, and they think this year has the chance to be his best because it’s his team, finally, after two years of some challenging roster situations. {I’m} excited to see how they fare on Saturday.”

Alabama’s 2026 season opener

The Crimson Tide will open their 2026 campaign against the East Carolina Pirates on Saturday. Kickoff will be at noon ET on ABC.

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