Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer led the Crimson Tide back to the SEC championship game and clinched a berth in the College Football Playoff after missing out on both in his first season in charge. Since his appointment in Jan. 2024, following Nick Saban’s retirement, DeBoer’s tenure has been harshly judged against the legendary coach’s.
Alabama Head Coach Kalen DeBoer Gets Advice From RB Derrick Henry
The Crimson Tide finished with an 11-4 record last season, an improvement on the previous season’s 9-4 record, but the blowout loss to the Indiana Hoosiers in the Rose Bowl landed DeBoer firmly back on the hot seat.
Despite the negativity currently surrounding the Crimson Tide, during an appearance on the “CBS Sports” podcast last week, Alabama legend Derrick Henry backed the Crimson Tide to return to elite status under the embattled DeBoer.
“I mean, you’re going to have growing pains. You know, coach Saban had his growing pains,” Henry said. “Coach DeBoer will have his. But for you to be able to get back to that mountaintop and be the top dog, you know, as far as a man and a player, you got to have that mindset of wanting to do that.
“I think what gave me confidence is because it’s never going to go away. But what’re you going to do with your time there? And I feel like the only way we’re going to get back is if you lock into that and go do that.”
Same fanbase wanted us to be disappointed with a 9 win season followed by a playoff birth in Kalen DeBoer’s first two seasons
A deeply unserious and profoundly stupid subset of the population https://t.co/T1EUif8dYC
— Nick Perkins (@NickyPerkss) February 15, 2026
Henry, who won the Heisman Trophy in 2015, was part of Alabama’s golden generation, helping Saban’s Crimson Tide to win his fourth national championship in his glory-filled tenure.
Analyst Hints at DeBoer’s Shaky Future
During last week’s segment of the “97.1 The Fan” show, Finebaum hinted that uncertainty reigned over the Crimson Tide’s home-and-home series against the Ohio State Buckeyes in 2027 and 2028 due to the shaky future of DeBoer in Tuscaloosa.
“I sincerely doubt the Alabama game is gonna happen based on what I’ve heard from Alabama’s AD,” Finebaum said. “He’s got a shaky situation there anyway, with the coach who is in trouble. Georgia might do it because they’re a bit more in tune and aligned. I really don’t think we’re gonna go too far and see those games.”
“I know what Ross Bjork (Ohio State athletic director) has said and what Del Conte has said (Texas AD), but the reality is that ninth SEC game is gonna be costly for a lot of programs.”
Since Saban retired two years ago, DeBoer’s Alabama has registered four losses in the first two seasons, something that last happened during former coach Mike Shula’s (6-7) final season in charge and Saban during his first season in charge (7-6), accounting for DeBoer’s shaky future.
