Paul Finebaum delivers blunt verdict on Kalen DeBoer after Alabama's disappointing season

The 2024 season felt like the dawn of a new beginning for college football in more ways than one and Kalen DeBoer felt no different. This was the first year where the playoff field was expanded to 12 teams, and a lot of power teams joined new conferences, making those said conferences much more formidable, but at the same time leaving the conference they left in ruin.

New head coaches took over established powerhouses from their legendary counterparts as well.

One such example is Kalen DeBoer, who took over the Alabama Crimson Tide from Nick Saban, who coached the team for 17 seasons and led the team to nine SEC titles along with six national championships. DeBoer didn’t come without pedigree though, as he was just in the national championship the year before with the Washington Huskies.

Year 1 for DeBoer was a mixed bag, notching wins over powerhouses in their conference such as Georgia, South Carolina and Missouri, but losing to opponents who finished the season with five or more losses like Vanderbilt and Oklahoma.

SEC analyst Paul Finebaum talked about DeBoer on his namesake show and he made some scathing remarks about the Crimson Tide’s first year with the team.

"I felt like he got off to a very good start," Finebaum said. "He tended to turn people off after the Vanderbilt game. I felt like he was bringing them back; the LSU game was monstrous. Then I felt like he threw it all away again in the Oklahoma game. Then, not winning the bowl game really resonated."

Bad losses late put Kalen DeBoer in a hot seat

The Crimson Tide’s loss to Vanderbilt was particularly puzzling, as they started off the season great, walloping their first three opponents by an average of 40 points, then beat Georgia after their bye week.

The hits just kept coming after, blowing a fourth-quarter lead to Tennessee after a close win against South Carolina the week before. A trio of impressive wins followed, but their Week 12 game against Oklahoma was an ugly loss and what ultimately cost them a place in the College Football Playoff.

The bowl game is what may have placed the Alabama playcaller on the hottest of hot seats, losing 19-13 to a rebuilding Michigan Wolverines at the Reliaquest Bowl. They ultimately finished the season with a 9-4 record, which was the worst record they had since Nick Saban’s first year coaching the team.

Following up Nick Saban is an incredibly tough ask. He is the undisputed GOAT of all college football coaches, so DeBoer has large shoes to fill. He also had to deal with an exodus of star players that left along with Saban like Caleb Downs, Justin Sayin and Isaiah Bond, so this year’s underwhelming performance can be somewhat forgiven.

The 2025 season is where the rubber meets the road and if Alabama gets off to a shaky start again, we might just see the entire fan base completely turn on their coach.