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Brutal Stat Exposes Major Gap Between Kalen DeBoer, Nick Saban's Tenure

Originally posted on The Spun | By Tzvi Machlin | Last updated Aug 30, 2025 8:54 PM ET

Prior to Kalen DeBoer's arrival in Alabama and his underwhelming 9-4 debut with the team, Alabama hadn't had a season anyone would reasonably call "bad" since Saban's own debut in 2007. But while that 7-6 campaign was marred by some pretty brutal losses for Saban, DeBoer is giving him a run for his money as far as brutal starts go.

In the grand scheme of things, Alabama's 31-17 loss to Florida State isn't a season-ender. There are still 11 games to play and Alabama will probably be favored in all but three of them (Georgia, Tennessee and LSU). And they showed last year that they can still give the best of the best a run for their money.

The problem is that DeBoer is dropping games to teams Saban almost never lost to, and at a rate far worse than Saban at his lowest.

Alabama were favored by two touchdowns today for the eighth time in DeBoer's tenure. Saban's teams were favored by at least 14 points in 133 games throughout his Alabama run.

Saban's record in those games? 131-2. DeBoer's record in those games? 4-4.

DeBoer already has twice as many losses against teams when he was a two-TD favorite than Saban had in his entire 17-year run in Tuscaloosa.

Since 2007, in games when Alabama was favored by at least 14 points:

Nick Saban was 131-2
Kalen DeBoer is 4-4
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) August 30, 2025

It gets worse.

Across Saban's entire 17-year tenure, he lost to an unranked team a grand total of four times.

DeBoer has now matched that mark of losses to unranked teams in just his 14th game.

The loss also snapped a 23-year run of season-opening wins.

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - OCTOBER 5: Kalen DeBoer of the Alabama Crimson Tide during a press conference after the loss against the Vanderbilt Commodores at FirstBank Stadium on October 5, 2024 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Carly Mackler/Getty Images)Carly Mackler/Getty Images

Patience won't save him

Most of the "patience" that Alabama fans had for DeBoer's run at the helm evaporated in Nashville last year when his team suffered their first loss to SEC minnow Vanderbilt in generations. Over their final three games of 2024, they lost by 21 to unranked Oklahoma and ended the year with a bowl loss to Michigan.

By season's end, fans and analysts were collectively calling for his head but begrudgingly gave him time to mold the team more.

Money isn't going to compel Alabama to keep DeBoer if they reach their breaking point. In an age where it flows more freely through college football than ever, buying out a contract worth $10.25 million a year won't exactly force the school to dig into their couches for nickels to pay him.

DeBoer should be able to get the team back to .500 against Louisiana-Monroe next week. After that there's one more non-conference game against Wisconsin before their SEC slate begins.

Can DeBoer right the ship before he goes down with it?

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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