Kalen DeBoer took one of the toughest jobs in the college football world two years ago. While the Alabama fanbase has been giving him grace, it all comes down to how he performs in the upcoming season.
DeBoer finished his first season with the Crimson Tide with an overall record of 9-4 in 2024, followed by an 11-4 season in 2025.
Paul Finebaum Doubts Kalen DeBoer for Natty at Alabama
While his second year with the program went better than his first, the standard at Alabama is national championship or bust. During a conversation with Jake Crain on Tuesday, veteran analyst Paul Finebaum spoke about whether or not he believes DeBoer can win a national championship at Alabama.
Finebaum said that while everybody knows DeBoer is a great coach, he doesn’t think a national championship is in the cards for him. He said, “The question is, is he going to win a championship at Alabama? And my answer is no. And sometimes these fits are really good. Sometimes they’re close to being good. This one’s okay. But Alabama is unique.”
“And really, in the last 60 years, only three people have won national championships at Alabama. Two of them happen to be the greatest coach of all time on the day they retired,” Finebaum added.
“I think at Alabama, you can be unique, you can be different, but Kalen DeBoer to me just doesn’t have the right ingredients to win the title there,” Finebaum continued. “I think he’s capable of winning it elsewhere. I mean, we all saw he came within a reasonable chance of winning it at Washington. I think he could probably have won one in Michigan. Alabama is different. I’m selling.”
During DeBoer’s SEC Media Days appearance in Tampa, the Alabama coach was asked whether his time with the program would be defined by whether he wins a national championship or not, to which he said:
“I certainly know that’s an important part of what’s happened in the program, so wouldn’t doubt if that’s the case. I’m not focused on that. I’m focused on just helping our program be the best and trying to bring out the best and raise the level of everyone around me, from coaching staff to our players; trying to maximize what we’re capable every single day.”
Separately, reacting to DeBoer’s Media Days answer last month, Finebaum said, “If you’re not thinking about a National Championship at Alabama, you don’t need to be there.”
