This is an opinion column.
Well, that escalated quickly.
What began as curiosity when Alabama hired Kalen DeBoer and slid to skepticism after Year 1 has snowballed at astonishing speeds.
Truly, every day since the Crimson Tide took a holiday last weekend in Tallahassee seems to get worse for the DeBoer camp.
It reached the unnamed booster quotes by Wednesday. Chris Low of On3 published a story citing one particularly disgruntled high-level donor who questioned the heart and direction of the program.
“We’re spoiled, always have been,” this donor told On3. “But when we put a team out there that looks uninspired like we have far too many times these past two years and lose to teams that we’re clearly more talented than, that’s when it becomes a problem … and not just a bunch of spoiled fans griping.”
That hits a little deeper than a Paul Finebaum caller meltdown or a Cracker Barrel meme.
And it follows a response to the 31-17 upset loss that hasn’t slowed the thaw on DeBoer. He still isn’t the fiery personality who is going to scorch a news conference with a proclamation to seal the leaks in public confidence.
It doesn’t help when his defensive coordinator spoke Monday about his group playing “timid” against Florida State.
Timid in Tallahassee sounds more like a trashy romance novel than the theme of a program in decline.
Yet here we are.
Tumbling in Tuscaloosa.
DeBoer is 14 games into his Alabama tenure with a 9-5 record and stiff headwinds. The shift may have started gradually but the way Alabama played against the Seminoles sped up that decline.
Where Alabama fans had been looking for the reasons to believe this relative newcomer to the national scene was the right pick in the succession plan, the opposite now seems true.
Where the career winning percentage, his record against Texas and Oregon were a bragging point, it’s flipped to failures with Vanderbilt and struggling Oklahoma, Michigan and Florida State teams.
DeBoer’s been a winner everywhere he’s coached.
But everywhere isn’t Tuscaloosa.
Straight up, he’s losing the benefit of the doubt.
And that’s a spiral that’s not easily slowed because the mob doesn’t typically pause for counterarguments. Being an outsider doesn’t help, either, because a healthy chunk of the pitchfork/torch crowd had never heard of him before Washington’s 2023 run to the CFP title game.
So, what can DeBoer do?
Clearly, he isn’t going to talk his way out of it.
The podium isn’t a comfort zone and he shouldn’t try to be someone he isn’t with the cameras rolling.
The next few games don’t offer much of a bargaining chip. Poor, Louisiana-Monroe. He could beat them 150-0 and feel the same heat on his seat.
The over/under for Saturday’s Alabama versus Louisiana-Monroe matchup is set at 50.5 points on FanDuel. Our college football betting guide is here to help you place bets this season.
Getting a Big Ten team in Bryant-Denny Stadium the following week offers a little more, but Wisconsin is even less inspiring these days. A Week 1 win over Miami (Ohio) came with a 17-0 final after finishing last season 5-7.
Fumble that cheese curd and the next step might not matter.
But the real answer to at least douse these flames awaits in Athens, Georgia. After an open week, Alabama on Sept. 27 heads to Sanford Stadium for a 6:30 p.m. CT game on ABC.
Outside of beating Tennessee and Auburn, adding to the Bulldog misery against the Crimson Tide is the quickest way to melt even the angriest Alabama heart. It would put a Band-Aid on the wound that is DeBoer’s road record (2-4) and serve notice that this program isn’t backpedaling like Homer Simpson into the bush.
Playing as a double-digit favorite apparently isn’t a strength but FanDuel currently has Alabama as a 6.5-point underdog playing under the lights in Athens.
The Bulldogs will also have a 33-game home winning streak by the time Alabama arrives, so snapping that run dating back to 2019 could sway donors, named or otherwise.
And for the sake of symmetry, the night of Sept. 27 is the 17th anniversary of Nick Saban’s first Alabama trip to Sanford Stadium and that Black Out game became a catapult in Year 2 of his tenure.
All of that admittedly sounds like fantasy in the context of today.
Suggesting a team that got humiliated by a two-score underdog ACC school could recover in a month’s time to beat the defending SEC champ as a touchdown underdog isn’t part of the crimson vortex.
But what else could quell buyout banter?
The fact that it sounds so unrealistic right now only adds value to the opportunity.
So, circle your calendars for Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025.
The night DeBoer needs to thaw the frozen hearts.
Just don’t forget the following Saturday …
You know, the one Vanderbilt visits Tuscaloosa.
Michael Casagrande is a reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or Facebook.
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