Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer found himself in the eye of the hurricane after the No. 9 Crimson Tide were blown out by the No. 1 Indiana Hoosiers in the Rose Bowl two weeks ago. The loss completed a mixed 11-4 season for the Crimson Tide, which also included a blowout in the SEC championship game.
The pessimism surrounding the Crimson Tide has persisted, with only eight players signed from the transfer portal, compared to the 21 players who left for the portal.
Analyst Predicts Kalen DeBoer Firing Next Season
During Tuesday’s segment of the “Next Round” podcast, analyst Clay Travis was pessimistic about the Crimson Tide improving next year and even predicted that DeBoer would be sacked.
“I’m not sure Alabama is gonna be a top-half SEC team next year,” Travis said. “I’m not sold on your QB position, couldn’t run the ball at all last year. I don’t think you’ve gotten better in the transfer portal relative to players lost versus players gained.”
“Ty Simpson is gonna be a first-round QB. I don’t think you’ll replace him with a first-round QB. I’m not very optimistic on Alabama. I think there’s a decent chance Kalen DeBoer gets fired during the season next year.”
Travis’ opinion on DeBoer was somewhat echoed by PFSN Analyst Ian Cummings, who explains that the Alabama head coach took over an unenviable situation in Tuscaloosa.
“The standard set by Nick Saban is a burden Kalen DeBoer must bear. And while there have been highs across his first two seasons, the Crimson Tide have not met that vaunted standard over that span. What’s more: Belief in Alabama is fading. The Crimson Tide missed the CFB Playoffs altogether in 2024 and lost in the quarterfinals in 2025.”
The shroud over DeBoer’s Crimson Tide darkened after losing the fight for former Auburn Tigers wide receiver Cam Coleman, who had a PFSN CFB WR Impact of 75.2, to the Texas Longhorns.
Alabama had also secured the commitment of former NC State linebacker Hollywood Smothers, who earned a PFSN CFB RB Impact score of C+, before he flipped and joined the Longhorns on Sunday, a situation highlighted by PFSN’s Cummings.
“As of now, Alabama has lost more than twice the players they’ve added in the transfer portal, a stunning dichotomy for a team that ran the table for much of the previous decade.”
“In the modern CFB landscape, the gap between quality coaching and excellent coaching is all too clear, both in the results on the field and the gravity for prospective transfers off of it. And either way, expectations are different at Alabama; with the program’s reputation and resources, DeBoer hasn’t risen to them.
“If the leakage continues in 2026, that could be the end of his leash.”
Paul Finebaum Pessimistic About DeBoer’s Bama Reign
During Tuesday’s segment of the “McElroy & Cubelic” podcast, ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum expressed pessimism about DeBoer’s tenure at Alabama following the Crimson Tide’s blowout loss in the Rose Bowl and their struggles with the transfer portal.
“I think the real problem for Alabama is what can be done about it?” Finebaum said. “Because you now have a coach who suffered the worst loss in modern Alabama history and he’s going to have to galvanize people and inspire people to dig deep and to try to rectify this situation. And I’m not really sure how he’s going to do it.”
“It’s very safe to say that Alabama is at a tipping point. It was a dreadful weekend. It’s hard to accept that Alabama is being outmaneuvered and outspent. It’s not a shock about them being outspent but the one thing Alabama needed was a running back and when Hollywood flew West yesterday, it really crushed a lot of people.”
After an opening-day loss to the Florida State Seminoles, the Crimson Tide put together an eight-game winning run, which included four consecutive wins against ranked sides, a first in SEC history. But the blowout losses in crucial games have tainted a mixed second season for DeBoer after succeeding Nick Saban in 2024.
