The Alabama Football program is currently in a state of chaos as the fanbase starts to question whether or not, Kalen DeBoer is the right coach to lead the program going forward. While Kalen DeBoer has struggled quite a bit to start his Alabama tenure, he was given the impossible task of replacing the greatest College Football Coach of All Time.
When Alabama Football fans bring up why Kalen DeBoer should be fired, their biggest reason is that they don't feel as if he's holding up the standard that Nick Saban set in Tuscaloosa. The biggest issue be that Kalen DeBoer was never in Tuscaloosa to study the way Saban coached on a day-to-day basis and in part, Nick Saban should get some blame for Alabama's struggles to carry on the dynasty.
Nick Saban not having a clear successor is a massive part of the struggles
Given everything Nick Saban did not only for the Alabama Football program but, for Tuscaloosa, it's almost impossible to fault him for anything he did during his tenure. The lone thing Nick Saban may deserve some of the blame for is not having a clear successor in place or a "Coach in waiting".
Having a "Head Coach in waiting" has been a successful trend in College Football at times and helped several programs pick up where the previous coach left off. Jimbo Fisher was Bobby Bowden's Head Coach in waiting, and when Bowden retired, Fisher won the ACC 3 years later and the National Championship 4 years later.
Recently, Urban Meyer handed Ohio State off to Ryan Day, and they won a Championship because of it, and before that, Bob Stoops handed off Oklahoma to Lincoln Riley. Naming a coach in waiting hasn't always worked out, but it would've given Alabama a plan.
When Nick Saban retired, Alabama didn't have a clear coach ready to step in and fill the role which led to the Crimson Tide hiring outside the program. Defensive Coordinator Kevin Steele retired, Offensive Coordinator Tommy Rees left for the NFL to coach tight ends, and the position coaches didn't present a great option.
Every report has indicated that Greg Byrne had two names in mind to replace Nick Saban, which were Kalen DeBoer and Mike Norvell. The Seminoles' Head Coach chose to stay in Tallahassee, but either way, Alabama fans would've been disappointed. If Norvell had the season he had last year in Tuscaloosa, he wouldn't have lasted the entire season, while they would've hated his recruiting process.
Simply put, the first head coach to follow Nick Saban was going to have a hard time ever reaching his level of standard. It's also impossible to fault Kalen DeBoer for not getting his players to meet that standard as he wasn't a part of any of Saban's teams and didn't get to see the process up close to follow.
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