Kalen DeBoer’s grip on the Alabama job may be stronger than the noise around him suggests.
That was the read from ESPN’s Paul Finebaum, who said on “The Paul Finebaum Show” that the Crimson Tide head coach is likely in a better spot than many fans believe. Finebaum pointed to one blunt reality: money.
“I think he's probably a lot safer than he appears,” Finebaum said. “And the reason is economics.
Alabama can't afford to buy him out right now unless something cataclysmic occurs. There are situations where money is not the problem, but Alabama is a long way from that.”
The conversation around DeBoer has been building since he took over for Nick Saban, who retired surprisingly after the 2023 season. Saban had made Alabama the standard in college football for nearly two decades, and DeBoer arrived with a strong résumé after guiding Washington to back-to-back double-digit-win seasons. In 2023, Washington came within one win of a perfect season before falling to Michigan in the national championship game.
His first year in Tuscaloosa was uneven. Alabama finished 9-4 and landed as the first team out of the College Football Playoff, but the record didn’t calm the fan base much because three of the four losses came against teams that ended the year with five or more defeats.
Year 2 looked more encouraging. DeBoer pushed Alabama to an 11-4 finish, got the Tide to the SEC Championship Game, and saw them lose 28-7 to Georgia.
Alabama also made it back to the College Football Playoff, where it beat Oklahoma on the road 34-24 after falling behind 17-0. The run ended the next game in a 38-3 loss to Indiana.
That uneven start has fueled questions about whether DeBoer is the right man to restore Alabama to the top of the sport. The school, though, answered with a major contract extension this offseason.
For now, the administration appears committed. Finebaum’s point was that commitment may be backed not just by belief, but by the cost of moving on. DeBoer enters 2026 with stability from above, even if the scrutiny around him isn’t going anywhere.
If Alabama keeps moving forward and makes another deep postseason push, the questions will fade. If Year 3 goes the other way, the financial barrier may not solve the problem forever - it may only postpone the decision.
In Other News...
Alabama Could Be Built For What College Football May Do Next
The next major shift in college sports could be decided far from Tuscaloosa, but Alabama is one of the programs that would feel it immediately. The Big Ten and SEC have both backed the Protect College Sports Act, a bill that has gathered bipartisan momentum in the Senate and is expected to come up for a vote soon. It lays out a more formal framework for how the sport would operate, including limits on athlete compensation, a one-time transfer exception and a standardized five-year eligibility window.
For a program like Alabama, where roster management, retention and recruiting are always front-and-center, those changes could matter as much as anything on the field. The proposed agent registry and fee cap would also add another layer to a system that has changed rapidly in recent years, with schools and conferences increasingly pushing for clearer rules. What remains unsettled is how much of this package will actually make it through the Senate intact, and how college football would adapt if it does. [Read more 🡒]
Kalen DeBoer Just Framed Alabamas Two Biggest Questions
At SEC Media Days, Kalen DeBoer offered a glimpse into how Alabama is thinking about both the present and the near future. The Crimson Tide coach pointed to true freshmen EJ Crowell and Cederian Morgan as players who could become part of the programs longer-term answer, a reminder that even in a place built on immediate expectations, roster development is still at the center of the conversation.
DeBoer also had a clear read on the outside perception around Alabama entering the season. With so many new faces in the mix, he acknowledged the Tide may not be getting the usual level of noise right now, but he framed that less as a problem than a challenge. For Alabama, the message was simple enough: the talking is done, and the team will have to show where it stands once the games begin. [Read more 🡒]
Alabamas SEC Money Race Just Got A Lot More Real
The money race in college football is getting harder to ignore, and Alabamas place in it is now part of the conversation. According to estimates compiled by CPA Patrick O'Rourke, the Crimson Tides player payroll budget for the 2026 season sits at about $36.5 million, which puts them eighth among Power Four programs. That kind of figure underlines how deeply NIL spending has become woven into roster building, especially in the SEC, where the arms race is now as much about finances as recruiting rankings.
The broader picture is even more revealing for Alabama fans: the SEC has 11 teams inside the top 20 highest player payroll budgets, with Texas, LSU and Texas A&M all projected to outspend the Tide. The numbers are still hazy, because NIL data is difficult to pin down with total certainty, but the direction is clear enough to matter. Competitive balance in college football is increasingly being shaped by who can spend, and Alabama is no longer operating at the top of that market by default. [Read more 🡒]