The start of the college football season was an exciting time for most fans; however, for spectators of the Alabama Crimson Tide, it was quite the opposite. The Crimson Tide were viewed as a top team entering this year. In fact, they were ranked No. 8 among the top 25 teams to start this season, according to ESPN.
Unfortunately, disaster struck for the Tide in week one against unranked Florida State. They were favored by 14 points and expected to cruise through Tallahassee with an easy win. The offense started the game with a quick score to starting tight end Josh Cuvas.
However, everything went downhill after that. The tide was unable to score again until early in the fourth quarter. They conceded 35 points and allowed over 300 yards in a monumental loss.
Recently, losing has been a common trend for new coach Kalen DeBoer. In the last two seasons, DeBoer has lost four games to unranked opponents. In comparison, previous and now retired head coach Nick Saban only lost four games to unranked opponents in his last 16 seasons as their coach.
Last year, Alabama finished its season with a record of 9-4. For casual viewers, this might not sound that bad. However, to anyone who knows the prestige and standard that the Crimson Tide are held to, this is a massive underperformance.
Luckily for DeBoer, fans weren’t too critical of his performance because he was in his first year at Alabama. After the shocking events of week one, fans are urging for changes to be made. Both spectators and analysts agree that DeBoer’s performance has been far from ideal.
Sage Creek student Eric Han was enraged by DeBoer’s week one performance.
“He is a disgrace to Alabama football and needs to be fired,” Han said.
However, a different question needs to be asked: was Kalen DeBoer always destined to fail as the Tide’s head coach?
Hall of Fame coach Nick Saban led Alabama to seven national championships over his career. He took the program from the bottom of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) to the top of college football. Saban is considered to be one of the greatest college football coaches of all time with a record of 297 wins and 71 losses.
He stepped into a role that had shoes that were impossible to fill. But is DeBoer the only reason for this historic collapse? The answer is no.
In 2025, college sports have become more about money and NIL deals than on-field performance. Players have become more focused on making money than playing football.
It was clear that against Florida State, the Alabama players didn’t want to be there. They showed no effort or physicality against their opponent. In college football, it does not matter how talented of a team you have if you don’t try.
On the other hand, fans could argue that such a talented team should not have a difficult time winning. Whether that is true or not is still up to debate, but with Alabama having a top-three rated roster full of star talent entering the season, winning was definitely the expectation.
At the end of the day, the success of the team comes down to the staff. While other factors can influence performance on the field, it is the coach’s responsibility to take the blame. However, it is also the coach’s responsibility to teach their players how to deal with pressure, especially when you play for a prestigious program.
No one can deny that the Tide looked lost out there against Florida State. Luckily, there is still a long season ahead where players can continue to improve.
Alabama is trapped in a tricky situation. Do they trust their new head coach or gamble on a new one?
Well, considering DeBoer has a buyout priced at over 70 million dollars, disposing of him may be challenging. Alabama should extinguish the fire before it has the chance to engulf all of Tuscaloosa in flames.
