Kalen DeBoer's six biggest struggles as head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide

After a 17-year run and six national championships at the school, Nick Saban retired at the end of the 2023 season as head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide. The Tide ended up hiring former Washington Huskies head coach, Kalen DeBoer to replace the icon.

DeBoer replaced Saban with a 104-12 record as a head coach at all levels combined, including a National Championship Game appearance last season as head coach of the Huskies who would fall short to Jim Harbaugh’s Michigan Wolverines. Since taking the job in Tuscaloosa however, DeBoer has fallen on some difficult times, which has come as a surprise to many given his track record of success.

Kalen DeBoer’s biggest struggles as head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide

1. Blowing a lead to the Georgia Bulldogs

After getting out to a 28-0 lead going into halftime against Kirby Smart’s Georgia Bulldogs, DeBoer’s Tide struggled mightily in the second half which ultimately saw the Bulldogs come back to tie the contest late in the second half.

If it wasn’t for an athletic play by true freshman wide receiver Ryan Williams, the Tide may have been struggle-bussing even more-so against the Vanderbilt Commodores the following week in Nashville, which indeed became a loss itself.

2. Losing to Vanderbilt

1984 was the last time the Vanderbilt Commodores defeated the Alabama Crimson Tide heading into the 2024 matchup. Commodores quarterback Diego Pavia led the Commodores to an impressive 40-35 victory which saw the Tide reach one of the lowest points in program history just one week after an extreme high defeating the Georgia Bulldogs.

3. Lack of discipline

Cigars, playing basketball, kicking footballs and throwing mouthpieces. These are all subtle examples of the lack of discipline Tide fans have witnessed under the DeBoer regime through only seven weeks of the 2024 season.

An assistant coach, Josh Chapman went viral this past weekend walking into the stadium before the Tide took on the rival Tennessee Volunteers. Although Chapman does this before each game, understanding context of the situation, the state of the program and how it could give the Vols added motivation failed to be recognized by DeBoer.

Off of a Jalen Milroe quarterback sneak play, two Alabama players were in the backfield in the Tennessee game acting like they were playing basketball while the play was on-going.

To cap it all off, while the Commodores were taking a knee to end the game against the Crimson Tide as victors, captain and Alabama Safety, Malachi Moore was seen throwing his mouthpiece and kicking the football out of frustration.

4. Losing to a rival

Cigars were indeed smoked after the game in Knoxville, but it was not by any Crimson Tide players or coaches. It was in fact by the Tennessee Volunteers who defeated the Tide for only the second time in the last 18 years. The Vols were 1-16 against Saban. They have already matched that win total in year one with the Tide under coach DeBoer.

5. In-State Recruiting struggles

This was arguable the first red flag under DeBoer as the Auburn Tigers crushed in-state recruiting in the off-season heading into 2024. The state of Alabama is a territory that retired head coach Nick Saban owned annually. In one off-season, it seemingly flipped to being heavily in favor of the in-state rival Auburn Tigers as far as top recruits go according to On3.

The silver lining is that the Tide still sit atop the recruiting rankings, but that could change on signing day if they do not finish strong and at least make the College Football Playoff in 2024.

6. Near loss to South Carolina

Coming off of a loss the Vanderbilt, it was widely suspected that the Tide would crush the South Carolina Gamecocks the following week. Whether it was the early 11 AM CST kickoff or how well the Gamecocks matched up against the Crimson Tide, it was a close contest throughout with the Tide needing a strong fourth quarter performance to pull the game out 27-25.

The Gamecocks came into the contest with a record of 3-2 on the season and a redshirt freshman first-year starting quarterback at LaNorris Sellars. Needless to say, the game should not have been close, but again was.

Kalen DeBoer's negatives are adding up

While singularly these things may not seem like much, collectively it’s quite eye-opening that all of this has transpired in less than a year as DeBoer took the job just this past January. Although he will likely get more than one year to right the ship for the Tide with a $70 million buyout, lots of things have to start aligning, and quickly before DeBoer loses the fan base entirely.