When you look at everything that's gone wrong under Kalen DeBoer, it becomes clearer and clearer that he's not Nick Saban and he'll never come close. The Crimson Tide dropped their 4th game to a team they were at least two touchdown favorites over in the DeBoer era on Saturday Night, under Nick Saban that happened 4 times in 230 games.
With Kalen DeBoer's teams, as soon as the game starts to shift away from them, you can feel it unraveling before it completely falls apart. These Alabama teams lack the focus Nick Saban's teams always had, and they seem unprepared in some of these games. The biggest reason they may lack urgency is the demeanor of their head coach.
Every former Alabama player can recount the times they got chewed out by Nick Saban and more likely than not, the player never made the mistake again. The passion of Nick Saban came through in his players as they almost felt disrespected that a player would dare line up across from them.
During Saturday's loss to Florida State, every time the camera panned to Kalen DeBoer, he looked more lost and almost affected by the moment than he did focused and locked into the game.
Kalen DeBoer looking like a substitute teacher who has lost control of his class pic.twitter.com/KP8kMVcrXc
— Hail Florida Hail (@HailFloridaHail) August 30, 2025
Kalen DeBoer and Ryan Grubb owe their entire career to Michael Penix Jr.
— Kris (@HuskiesFan19) August 30, 2025
The offense looks so bad and eerily similar to last years Seahawks. pic.twitter.com/8gKhzjVzWi
Kalen DeBoer is one of the best X's and O's head coaches in the sport and if he goes to another program, he'll end up having success. The difference may be that he doesn't have the craziness and the fire to get it done in the SEC.
The best coaches in the SEC have a fire and a sense of urgency that makes it feel as if they won't ever let anything get in the way of them winning. Kalen DeBoer doesn't give off that same sense of urgency and in the end it may cost him a chance of ever getting the ball rolling in Tuscaloosa.
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