Alabama Crimson Tide head football coach Kalen DeBoer is under pressure heading into the 2026 season. After a lifeless performance in the Rose Bowl, losing 38-3 to the Indiana Hoosiers on Jan. 1, leading to their elimination from the College Football Playoff, DeBoer is at the receiving end of criticism.
The expectations at Alabama are high, and anything short of SEC titles and national championships is likely a failure of a season. Moreover, this standard stems from what former head coach Nick Saban set during his tenure in Tuscaloosa.
On a Jan. 7 appearance on the “Pat McAfee Show,” Saban joined the program to talk about the current state of the Crimson Tide under DeBoer.
“I do think that Kalen DeBoer is a really good coach and doing a good job here,” Saban said on the show. “This is a tough transition, especially in this environment that we live in in college football, in terms of players coming and going. I think there were 26 players that got in the portal when I retired. That’s a lot to overcome for anybody, and it would have been a lot to overcome for even one of the guys that formerly coached for me.
“So I fully support Greg Byrne and what he decided to do, and how he’s done it. And I’m hoping that they get the ship going in the right direction here. It’s not bad to get in the playoffs and finish in the final eight, but not the expectation around here, which is tough to live up to sometimes.”
Paul Finebaum Gives Blunt Message to Alabama Fanbase
Amid the criticism that DeBoer is facing, ESPN college football analyst Paul Finebaum delivered a blunt assessment of what he saw from the Crimson Tide against Indiana, which was a shell of its former self under Saban.
“If you watched this game, you thought the team that was beating down Alabama was Alabama under Nick Saban,” Finebaum said on the Jan. 2 edition of “Get Up.” “I realize the uniform was similar, but they played just like a Nick Saban team.
“They beat you to death and made you give up. That’s what happened and that’s why everybody in Alabama this morning is beside themselves, because their team looks soft, their coach looks soft, and their program looks soft. That is unprecedented territory for Alabama.”
Kalen DeBoer Feeling the Heat From Alabama Fanbase
Moreover, Finebaum noted that DeBoer is drawing the wrath of the Alabama fan base after witnessing the team’s brutal showing, as the coach could be feeling the heat once the 2026 season gets going.
“There have been bad losses in recent history,“ Finebaum added. “Nick Saban lost by 28 once in a National Championship Game with Tua Tagovailoa. But ultimately, he’d also had a number of championships in his back pocket. Kalen DeBoer doesn’t have anything in his back pocket right now except ill will from the Alabama fan base. And I thought that all changed 10 days ago when we were in Norman, but it has not. It has actually gotten worse.”
Alabama HC Kalen DeBoer Gets Strong Words From Nick Saban