Alabama and Kalen DeBoer head to a crucial second year at Tuscaloosa, but it seems DeBoer still has a lot in line in regard to his potential success with the Tide. It was never an easy job to take up for the former Washington head coach. The Nick Saban-led program greeted him with an unprecedented target to match the legacy of the past 17 years under the GOAT. DeBoer accepted that with a grin and tried to do his best. But he didn’t get any support from the locker room, with players vehemently maintaining a distance, negatively impacting their team bonding. Also, the excessive pressure of a new guy at the helm was meant to backfire, and it did.
However, regardless of the logic and debates, DeBoer can’t dismiss his responsibility in a roller-coaster season. When the Tide beat out the Georgia Bulldogs, they seriously looked like a lock, rising to No. 1 in the weekly polls; however, soon, the relief turned into a short-time success as they gave it up to Vanderbilt on the road the following week.
Pulling out a devastating 40-35 at home is largely considered one of the greatest upsets in SEC history. The jolt came off as an immediate wake-up call, and the Tides successfully mended the woes in their blowout win against the LSU Tigers, setting up a path to the 2-seed in the College Football Playoff.
But destiny didn’t have anything good written for them. They lost to the.500 Oklahoma two weeks later, eroding their chance to get to the playoff. But losses aren’t just meant to be relived and whined about; rather, they’re meant to take some notes for future success. Explaining the key lessons from the ups and downs in DeBoer’s debut year, Alabama DC Kane Wommack said, “I think the biggest experience we can all gain from last season is there has to be a sense of urgency to do the same high-level job every single day.”
“When you have success, it should breed a sense of urgency to create more success.
I don’t think we handled success well as a team, collectively, and it obviously hurt us on the field.” Alabama DC Kane Wommack pic.twitter.com/o7dwtx0FeD
— The Next Round (@NextRoundLive) March 7, 2025
“I don’t think it was malicious by anybody from the standpoint of maybe you have a good day here, or you’re focused here, or walking into this game versus that game. But when you have success, it should breed a sense of urgency to create more success for you. And I don’t think we handled success well as a team collectively, and I think that hurt us on the field. It obviously hurt us on the field,” the defensive head chimed in after Friday’s spring practice. Kane believes there shouldn’t be any active panic button, though, making the players stressed, but the young kids should learn and apply the art of becoming super aware in every rep.
It’s not that Alabama isn’t a great team, having no great talents or some good offensive and defensive strategy. If you analyze those loft LSU or Georgia wins, you will get your myth busted. But the problem is they were inconsistent, retaining their supremacy in a row for long. Kane deems the huge inconsistency and the lack of urgency to be what got in DeBoer’s way to mount a good enough season at Tuscaloosa in his inaugural season.
It seems the visionary DC and the attentive head coach will surely reflect more and work on the issues before a new season kick starts, but DeBoer still finds him in an unfavorable spot compared to Lane Kiffin.
Kalen DeBoer has to do more than just being better on the scoreboard
DeBoer doesn’t have to mend the technical gaps with that quintessential Nick Saban era. Rather, he has to fill in emotional gaps as well. People in Alabama hold a special place for their legendary head coach, and they are super possessive and protective of that feeling. They don’t even want someone to sneak at that, anyway. Hence, they not only vented frustration on DeBoer’s 9-4 streak but also on how he dressed in an event. As ridiculous as it sounds.
But Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin doesn’t have that pressure. Despite missing out on the playoff and going into full rebel mode against the NCAA partiality, Kiffin, at least, doesn’t offend fans by just wearing something he likes or any random gesture on the field.
“Lane could go out there, coach without a shirt on, and no one would give a [ __ ]. They’d be like, ‘Look at Lane, he’s so cool.’ Meanwhile, they were mad that DeBoer was wearing a damn sweatshirt on the sidelines,” said analyst Joe Dellone. So, it’s more than a national championship appearance or just a better season for DeBoer; it’s about establishing his authority over the land of Alabama. If he won’t be able to do that, $70 million isn’t that big for the Bamas to spend.
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