"I believe in Coach DeBoer" - Mark Ingram confident that Alabama will bounce back in the 2025 season after a disappointing 2024 campaign

Mark Ingram sees Alabama turning up in the 2025 college football season. The Crimson Tide had a below-standard season in Kalen DeBoer's first year in the program in 2024. The team finished with a 9-4 record, missing out on a place in the expanded College Football Playoff.

However, Mark Ingram sees the feel of the Nick Saban era returning next season. In a recent installment of “The Triple Option” podcast, the Heisman Trophy winner joined Urban Meyer and Rob Stone to discuss the fate of Alabama in 2025. Despite the concerns in 2024, Ingram sees a good time ahead for the Crimson Tide.

“It’s going to be spicy out there,” Mark Ingram said about Alabama's 2025 season (per On3). “I believe in coach DeBoer. I think his philosophy is really good for this new age of college football.

“But at the end of the day, how we finished the season last year with controlling our own destiny and then laying an egg versus Oklahoma, and then not getting in the playoff, and then laying an egg in the bowl game.”

“You come out and you don’t have a chance to go to the College Football Playoff and you don’t win double-digit games? I don’t know if they move. I don’t know if they pull the plug. But I know it’s going to turn up.”

DeBoer put quite a lot of things in place this offseason to ensure he gets it right at the program next season. The program had a strong recruiting class with notable additions from the portal. He's also brought in new defensive staff while also re-hiring Ryan Grubb as offensive coordinator.

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Mark Ingram believes the pressure will start to pile up for Kalen DeBoer in 2025

Kalen DeBoer’s underwhelming start at Alabama might be overlooked. However, that won’t be for long. While noting that he doesn’t believe the Crimson Tide would part ways with Kalen DeBoer after just two seasons, Mark Ingram acknowledged that the possibility exists.

“I know that seat is going to be extremely warm going towards hot,” Ingram said. “So I think he has three years to be able to turn this thing around and get it back going where everyone is happy. But it’s tough, man. It depends on what the second year looks like. It’s a big season.”

The Alabama Crimson Tide opens the season on the road against Florida State and also has ULM, Wisconsin and Eastern Illinois to play in the non-league games. The conference schedule will be the same as 2024, with sites flipped this time.