Why the Entire College Football World Is Wrong About Kalen DeBoer
NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...
I am tired of hearing it.
For the better part of two years, it feels like the college football world has been waiting for Kalen DeBoer to fail. Every recruiting battle Alabama loses becomes breaking news. Every loss is treated as proof that the Crimson Tide made the wrong hire. Every preseason ranking, every hot take show, and every social media debate seems to circle back to the same conclusion: Alabama isn't Alabama anymore, and Kalen DeBoer isn't the coach to bring it back.
The more I hear those arguments, the more convinced I become that people are completely missing what's actually happening in Tuscaloosa.
That's not to say DeBoer is above criticism. No coach is. Alabama fans should expect championships. They should expect playoff appearances. They should expect elite recruiting classes and high-level football. That's part of what makes Alabama different.
But there's a difference between having high expectations and completely ignoring reality.
The reality is that Kalen DeBoer inherited the most difficult job in college football history. The reality is that he has navigated unprecedented changes within the sport. The reality is that he's won football games at a high level despite facing challenges no Alabama coach before him has ever had to face.
Most importantly, the reality is that there is far more evidence suggesting DeBoer is the right man for the job than there is evidence suggesting he isn't.
Yet somehow, much of the college football world has already made up its mind.
I think they're wrong.
And I think history is eventually going to prove it.
The Impossible Task of Following Nick Saban
Before we talk about wins, losses, recruiting, NIL, or anything else, we need to acknowledge the elephant in the room.
Kalen DeBoer wasn't hired to replace an average coach.
He wasn't hired to replace a coach who had fallen behind. He wasn't hired to replace someone who had lost the support of the fan base. He was hired to replace the greatest coach in the history of college football.
Think about that for a moment.
Nick Saban spent 17 seasons at Alabama building what many consider the greatest dynasty the sport has ever seen. Six national championships. Nine SEC titles. Endless first-round draft picks. Countless All-Americans. Year after year of dominance that made winning feel routine and championships feel expected.
An entire generation of Alabama fans grew up knowing nothing but success.
Then one day, it was over.
Saban retired, and suddenly Alabama faced a challenge no program ever wants to face: replacing a legend. The problem is that many people never adjusted their expectations. Instead of evaluating Kalen DeBoer on his own merits, they immediately began comparing every decision he made to Nick Saban.
Every recruiting class.
Every game plan.
Every roster move.
Every loss.
Every win.
Everything.
The standard wasn't excellence.
The standard was being Nick Saban.
And that's a standard nobody can meet.
Let's be honest. If Kirby Smart had taken the Alabama job, he would have been compared to Nick Saban. If Steve Sarkisian had taken the job, he would have been compared to Nick Saban. If Ryan Day, Dan Lanning, or anyone else in the country had taken the job, they would have faced the same impossible comparison.
There is no replacing Nick Saban.
There is only building the next era of Alabama football.
That was always going to take time.
Unfortunately, patience isn't something many people seem interested in offering.
The 20-8 Record Nobody Wants to Talk About
One of the strangest parts of the anti-DeBoer conversation is how people talk about his record. Through his first two seasons, DeBoer has gone 20-8 at Alabama. Somehow, that record is often discussed as if it's evidence that the program is falling apart. Take a step back and think about how absurd that sounds.
Twenty wins in two seasons.
Victories over Georgia.
Victories over LSU.
Victories over Auburn.
A College Football Playoff appearance.
An SEC Championship Game appearance.
Most programs would celebrate a start like that.
At Alabama, some people act like it's a disaster.
That's not because 20-8 is a bad record.
It's because Alabama fans spent nearly two decades watching the greatest coach in college football history operate at a level nobody else could consistently reach.
That level of success distorted expectations. Winning ten games became disappointing. Making the playoff became expected. Competing for championships became the minimum requirement.
The problem is that college football doesn't work that way anymore. The margins are smaller than they've ever been. The competition is tougher than it's ever been.
Yet despite those realities, DeBoer has continued to keep Alabama among the nation's elite programs. And here's something else people conveniently ignore. The losses receive all the attention. The wins are often brushed aside.
When Alabama beats Georgia, people move on to the next story. When Alabama loses a game, it's treated like a national crisis.
That's not objective analysis. That's selective outrage.
The truth is that DeBoer's first two seasons compare favorably to what most coaches would have accomplished under the same circumstances.
Modern College Football Isn't the Same Sport Anymore
Another major reason I believe people are unfairly judging DeBoer is because they're pretending he's coaching in the same environment Nick Saban dominated.
He's not.
Nobody is.
College football has changed more over the last five years than it did during the previous twenty.
The transfer portal changed everything. NIL changed everything. Revenue sharing changed everything. Roster construction today looks nothing like it did when Alabama was winning championships in the 2010s.
There was once a time when elite programs could recruit the best players in the country, develop them for two or three years, and build depth that overwhelmed opponents.
That model no longer exists.
Today, players transfer. Players seek bigger opportunities. Players seek more money. Players seek immediate playing time. Every offseason has become free agency.
Every coach in America is recruiting his own roster as aggressively as he's recruiting high school prospects.
That's the reality of modern college football.
And yet DeBoer is often criticized as though he's operating under the same conditions that existed ten years ago.
He's not. The challenges are greater. The roster turnover is greater. The uncertainty is greater.
What impresses me is that despite all of those challenges, Alabama remains nationally relevant and nationally competitive.
That's a credit to the coaching staff.
It's a credit to DeBoer's leadership.
And it's a credit to the culture being built inside the program.
The Recruiting Narrative Doesn't Match Reality
If you've spent any time on social media lately, you've probably heard the claim that Kalen DeBoer can't recruit.
It's one of the most common criticisms directed toward him.
It's also one of the most exaggerated.
Does Alabama win every recruiting battle? Of course not.
Nobody does.
Nick Saban didn't.
Kirby Smart doesn't.
Ryan Day doesn't.
Recruiting has never been about winning every battle. It's about assembling a championship-caliber roster.
And Alabama continues to do exactly that.
The Crimson Tide continues to attract elite talent from across the country. The quarterback room remains loaded with highly regarded prospects. Alabama continues to compete for blue-chip recruits from coast to coast despite every rival fan base in America trying to convince recruits the dynasty is dead.
The funny thing about recruiting is that people tend to overreact in June and forget what happens in December.
Every commitment elsewhere becomes evidence that Alabama is finished. Every decommitment becomes a crisis. Then signing day arrives and Alabama once again finds itself among the nation's most talented rosters.
The cycle repeats every year.
The reality is that recruiting isn't nearly as simple as many people want it to be. NIL matters. Relationships matter. Development matters. Opportunity matters. And despite all of the noise, Alabama continues to attract elite players because Alabama continues to offer something most programs can't.
Championship expectations.
Elite development.
National exposure.
And a coaching staff that players believe in.
Why Kalen DeBoer Wins Everywhere He Goes
What gives me the most confidence in Alabama's future isn't recruiting rankings or preseason predictions.
It's Kalen DeBoer's track record.
At some point, we have to stop acting like his success is accidental.
The man wins everywhere he goes.
At Sioux Falls, he built a powerhouse and won three national championships while compiling an astonishing 67-3 record.
At Fresno State, he inherited a program that needed direction and immediately turned it into a winner.
At Washington, he took a team that had finished 4-8 just two years earlier and guided it all the way to the national championship game.
Now he's at Alabama, and despite inheriting the most pressure-filled situation in the sport, he's continued to win.
That's not luck. That's coaching.
Great coaches leave fingerprints on programs. Their teams become more disciplined. Their quarterbacks improve. Their culture improves. Their consistency improves. That's exactly what DeBoer has done throughout his career.
Everywhere he's been, the results have followed.
At some point, the burden of proof shifts. At some point, the question shouldn't be why people believe in Kalen DeBoer.
The question should be why so many people continue doubting a coach whose entire career has been built on proving doubters wrong.
Why Alabama Fans Should Be Excited
When I look at Alabama football right now, I don't see a program in decline.
I see a program evolving. I see a coach building toward the future instead of desperately trying to recreate the past. I see talented young players. I see elite quarterback talent. I see strong recruiting foundations. I see a coaching staff that understands where college football is heading.
Most importantly, I see stability.
That matters more than ever in today's college football landscape.
Programs across the country are struggling to hold rosters together. Coaching staffs are constantly changing. Players are entering the portal every offseason.
Yet Alabama remains one of the most stable and respected programs in the sport.
That's not happening by accident.
That's happening because leadership matters.
And whether people want to admit it or not, Kalen DeBoer has provided exactly that.
Patience, Perspective, and the Bigger Picture
Maybe that's what this entire conversation comes down to: Perspective.
For nearly two decades, Alabama fans experienced something no fan base has ever experienced before. They watched the greatest dynasty in college football history unfold right in front of them.
The problem with sustained greatness is that it can distort reality.
It can make excellence feel ordinary. It can make ten wins feel disappointing. It can make playoff appearances feel routine. It can make people forget just how difficult winning actually is.
Kalen DeBoer isn't Nick Saban.
He never will be.
Nobody will.
But that doesn't mean he isn't the right coach for Alabama.
In fact, I believe the evidence suggests the exact opposite. I believe Alabama hired one of the best coaches in America. I believe he's navigated the most difficult coaching transition in the history of college football remarkably well. I believe he's recruiting at a high level. I believe he's building a foundation capable of competing for championships. And I believe far too many people are focused on what Alabama used to be instead of what Alabama can become.
The college football world seems determined to convince itself that Kalen DeBoer isn't good enough.
I think they're going to be disappointed.
Because history tells us something important about Kalen DeBoer.
He wins.
He won at Sioux Falls.
He won at Fresno State.
He won at Washington.
And he's winning at Alabama.
The people doubting him today may eventually find themselves looking back and realizing they completely misjudged him.
As for me, I'll keep betting on the coach whose entire career has been built on proving people wrong.
Roll Tide.
More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos