Nick Saban Issues Reality Check to Alabama's Kalen DeBoer During Second Season

Saban, now an on-air presence and still a reference point for Alabama’s standard, addressed the situation on the "Pat McAfee Show" on Friday.

"One thing about coaching at Alabama, they expect you to win every game," Saban said. "The standard is really, really high for what you're supposed to accomplish and what you're supposed to do. You need to protect your players from that.

"Give them a different way to compete in the game so they're not looking at the scoreboard, they're not worrying about the outcome. That's all they hear everywhere they go... they're expected to win. So, you can't let that creep in and that anxiety about being outcome-oriented affect their performance."

DeBoer’s Alabama Ledger to Date and Saban's Standard

After leading the Washington Huskies to a 14-1 record and a National Championship Game appearance, DeBoer took over as coach at Alabama in January 2024, following Saban's retirement.

Last season, DeBoer's first leading the program, Alabama finished 9-4, including losses to Vanderbilt, No. 11 Tennessee, Oklahoma and Michigan (ReliaQuest Bowl), missing the first 12-team College Football Playoff and closing at No. 17 in the AP poll.

Coming into 2024, the Crimson Tide's regular season win total was set at 9.5, per FanDuel Sportsbook, so they almost topped that, but the season was largely a disappointment, especially given the playoff miss.

This season, the program was expected to take a step forward, landing at No. 8 in the AP Top 25 preseason poll, ahead of LSU, Miami and Arizona State. Yet, they're now 0-1 to open the season, despite entering the FSU matchup as double-digit favorites.

Following the loss, DeBoer fell to 6-4 against unranked opponents at Alabama; Saban went 124-4 in such games during his tenure.

Saban, 206–29 at Alabama with six national championships, set an unmatched benchmark: double-digit wins every season after his 2007 debut, 120–18 in the SEC and a sustained presence in New Year’s Six and CFP stages.

His overall college head coaching record stands among the greatest, with seven national titles across LSU and Alabama and enduring recognition as the sport’s standard-setter, now serving as an ESPN analyst.

While Saban’s Alabama thrived amid suffocating expectations, DeBoer’s Alabama is still learning to carry that weight.