Kalen DeBoer's 2025 recruiting class is fraudulent: Here's why

According to On3’s recruiting service, the Alabama Crimson Tide just landed the number three recruiting class in the country under head coach Kalen DeBoer who is going into his second season with the club in 2025. The only team ranked ahead of the Tide was the Texas Longhorns. That means DeBoer beat out Georgia’s Kirby Smart, Tennessee’s Josh Heupel, Ohio State’s Ryan Day and so many more on the recruiting trail.

The problem does is not in the actual class. The problem is in the between the line’s happenings both on the field and off that will be the demise of DeBoer and the 2025 recruiting class he assembled.

Four reasons why Kalen DeBoer’s 2025 recruiting class will fall apart

Mass Exodus in the transfer portal

As of Wednesday morning, 10 Alabama players have entered the transfer portal that were on the 2024 roster. The most prominent names on the list include wide receivers Ryan Williams, Kendrick Law and Kobe Prentice. Tight end Caleb Odom and offensive lineman Miles McVay are also noteworthy names that entered.

Odom and Williams are most eye-popping on this list as DeBoer worked hard to get the two five-stars on campus.

The exit of so many key names who contributed at present or were expected to play large roles in the future is unsettling and should put Alabama fans on alert that although the 2025 class is strong by the numbers, DeBoer is showing a patter through one year in Tuscaloosa of not being able to retain that top talent.

Players forced to play early

With the exit of so many key contributors, this will inevitably force DeBoer to play more younger talent than has been traditional at Alabama. Whether it is players from the 2025 class, or 2024 that are still relatively young as players, this will need to happen. And playing younger guys is not something that was accustom under previous head coach Nick Saban who led the Tide to six national championships in his 17 seasons.

Lack of discipline

At times, players showed a lack of care whether it be their demeanor on the sideline, or on-field antics. At one point in the Vanderbilt game, players were seen doing backflips after quarterback Jalen Milroe had snapped the ball. In another instance in the same game, safety and captain Malachi Moore was seen kicking the ball and throwing his mouthpiece out of frustration.

These discipline issues show a lack of care which was something that was seldom seen under Saban.

Future recruiting classes will drop off

Although a number two class looks promising, the on-field performance does not match up to the ranking. When this happens, we typically see recruiting class rankings fall off for clubs as a slow, gradual regression. This is often followed by a regression in record as well.

LSU with Les Miles is an example of this. Miles’ first four recruiting classes coming off of a Nick Saban regime that saw the Tigers with the National Championship in 2003 averaged 4.75. Miles’ last six classes averaged 7.5. LSU’s on-field record regressed as well, which led to Miles’ firing midway through the 2016 season.

Expect the same trend for DeBoer who although got off to a good start this past off-season seems to be struggling to put pieces together long-term.