Alabama's Kalen DeBoer is Channeling Nick Saban — And Fans Should Love It

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The Alabama Crimson Tide lost to the Georgia Bulldogs in a tightly-contested SEC matchup last Saturday, a matchup that may have been a CFP preview.

There is no question that Alabama and Georgia are two of the top teams in the country, and the two squads gave college football fans what they wanted in Week 6.

But the biggest topic of discussion following the Crimson Tide's 20-17 loss was not X's and O's or what Alabama could do differently to defeat the Bulldogs in a potential SEC Championship Game matchup.

No; the primary subject at hand was Kalen DeBoer going ballistic on the sideline following Dijon Lee Jr.'s unsportsmanlike conduct penalty late in the fourth quarter, one that DeBoer repeatedly told Lee "cost us the game."

DeBoer got in Lee's face and shouted the same sentence several times, so much so that some questioned whether or not the generally reserved head coach went too far afterward.

But perhaps people are more shocked than anything else. Shocked that DeBoer is actually channeling Nick Saban.

Public dressing downs are nothing new in sports. Saban did it all the time, and no one ever really had an adverse reaction to it. It was expected, and you know what? It helped him win six national championships in Tuscaloosa.

So if DeBoer is starting to employ some of Saban's methods, who are we to stop him?

For so long, DeBoer has been accused of being too soft, and his first two Alabama teams in 2024 and 2025 reflected that. The Crimson Tide lost four games in his debut and fell to a pedestrian Michigan squad in the ReliaQuest Bowl. Last year, they were embarrassed by Florida State in the season opener and were humiliated by Indiana in the Rose Bowl.

Something had to change, and heading into the Georgia matchup, 'Bama was 5-0 for the first time in DeBoer's tenure.

Whatever the 51-year-old has been doing, it has been working, and it's like people forget he did take Washington to the National Championship Game three years ago.

DeBoer is a very capable coach, one who may have just needed a bit more of an edge to him to withstand the rigors of Alabama. And he appears to be doing that.

Saban was lauded for his in-your-face approach throughout his time with the Tide. Maybe DeBoer is about to follow that path.

And Alabama fans should be thrilled about it.

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