Head coach Kalen DeBoer has faced mounting criticism online throughout his short tenure so far at the University of Alabama. Fans compare his every movement to that of former head coach Nick Saban who is widely regarded as the greatest college football coach of all time.
“When you coach at Alabama, they expect you to win every game,” Saban said during an interview with Pat McAfee. “Kalen is a really good guy, he’s a good coach. He’s always had success no matter where he’s been. Maybe he hasn’t had this kind of scrutiny in the past. But if you’re going to be successful, you’ve got to be able to self assess and figure out ‘what can I do better?’”
DeBoer led Alabama to a 9-4 record last season, the program’s first season with less than 10 wins since Saban’s first year in 2007 where the team finished 7-6.
DeBoer’s nine wins tied him with Frank Thomas for most wins by a first-year head coach in program history, yet many saw DeBoer’s record as a sign that the Crimson Tide had fallen from glory as the standard in college football.
After a Week 1 loss this season, Alabama fan Susan Conerly went viral for explaining what she would do if she won the lottery.
“I’d tell you exactly what I’d do with the first $70 million,” Conerly said. “I’d pay off Kalen DeBoer and get him the heck out of the University of Alabama.”
In some fans’ eyes, the football program was no longer the powerhouse it was under Saban, effectively marking a new era in college football.
However, Alabama fans can take a look at Saban’s history with the team to see that judgments cannot be made based on a coach’s first season alone.
Saban’s first season, going 7-6, was in no way representative of the dynasty being built.
In the 2008 season, Saban completely turned the program around finishing with an undefeated regular season, the team’s first since 1994. This season also marked the first time since 1980 where the Crimson Tide held the No. 1 spot in the AP Poll.
While Alabama did not win an SEC or national championship during Saban’s second year, the team did have an undefeated season the following year, winning both championships.
Saban ultimately went on to lead the Crimson Tide to four Heisman trophies, nine SEC Championships and six national championships over his 17 seasons as head coach.
Saban’s second year as head coach completely redefined the college football standard for the next decade and a half, and DeBoer has the potential to do the same.
Despite a rocky start to the year by losing the season opener at Florida State 31-17, DeBoer led the Crimson Tide to four straight wins over ranked opponents. This marks an SEC record for most consecutive ranked wins without a bye week.
This is also twice as many ranked wins as any other team this season, setting Alabama up for an impressive resume when it comes to determining playoff seeding in early December.
Alabama also currently has a home game win streak of 16, the longest active streak in college football, thanks to DeBoer’s leadership.
However, beating ranked opponents has not been the Crimson Tide’s weakness the past two seasons. While the team is 7-1 against ranked opponents under DeBoer, Alabama has lost four games to unranked teams.
Alabama has four remaining games on the regular season schedule, with three unranked opponents in LSU, Eastern Illinois and Auburn and one ranked rival in No. 11 Oklahoma.
The Iron Bowl versus Auburn is the only away game left for the Crimson Tide this regular season.
DeBoer will lead the Crimson Tide against the LSU Tigers at 6:30 p.m. CT this Saturday in Tuscaloosa at Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium. The game can be streamed on ABC.
