Kalen DeBoer is heading into his third full season at Alabama with the kind of pressure that only comes with that job. The Crimson Tide don’t measure success the way most programs do, and after Nick Saban’s unprecedented run, the bar in Tuscaloosa is still sitting sky-high.
DeBoer has gone 20-8 over his first two seasons, a stretch that has included both promising moments and some rough ones. The low point came in an ugly College Football Playoff loss to Indiana, when Alabama’s offense never found the end zone.
Now the expectation is bigger than simply getting back into the playoff. Alabama has to make noise once it gets there, and that’s where the conversation around DeBoer starts to get uncomfortable.
That unease is real enough inside a fan base that never settles for much. On3 Sports analyst Blain Crain put that frustration front and center while laying out one of his wild preseason predictions for 2026.
“Alabama fans are not happy. They’re not happy. They’re a fanbase, I don’t know if you can ever make them happy,” On3 Sports analyst Blain Crain said when outlining one of his craziest predictions for the 2026 season.
For a lot of Alabama fans, the issue goes beyond wins and losses. The bigger complaint has been physicality, especially after DeBoer’s team got pushed around in the trenches in a loss at Florida State to open last season.
“[Alabama fans] want to physically dominate and beat people on the line of scrimmage. And it just feels like Kalen DeBoer’s not that fit,” Crain said.
That criticism has hovered around DeBoer since the day he arrived. The perception is that his teams lean more toward spread looks and a pass-heavy approach than the old-school, line-of-scrimmage punishment Alabama fans expect.
The numbers from last season didn’t help his case. Alabama’s rushing attack ranked 125th in FBS, averaging 104 yards per game and 3.4 yards per attempt.
So what would actually push Alabama to make a move? In this preseason speculation, the answer is an 8-4 season.
Even then, the details would matter. Losses to Auburn, Georgia and LSU, for example, could be enough to trigger a change.
DeBoer’s new contract, agreed to this spring, gives him some protection. He’s set to make $12.5 million annually, but that kind of money also comes with a massive buyout if Alabama decides to go in another direction.
If the school fired him in November, the cost would be around $67.5 million, paid out over the life of the deal through Jan. 31, 2033.
For now, the math is simple: DeBoer and Alabama need a strong third act, because the chatter about what happens if they don’t is already out there.
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