Ken Ruinard / staff, The Greenville News via Imagn Content Services, LLC

Paul Finebaum Reveals What Concerns Him About Alabama's Kalen DeBoer

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Jaron Spor | Last updated May 19, 2025 2:00 PM ET

The 2024 college football season marked the beginning of a new era in Tuscaloosa, Ala. The Nick Saban era came to an end after nearly 20 seasons and six national championships. Kalen DeBoer is leading this new chapter.

DeBoer arrived at Alabama after serving as the head coach of the Washington Huskies, where he spent two successful seasons. During his time at Washington, he achieved a record of 25-3 and guided the Huskies to the national championship game in 2023, although they ultimately lost to the Michigan Wolverines with a score of 34-13.

DeBoer experienced a mix of highs and lows in his first season with the Crimson Tide. On the positive side, Alabama secured impressive victories against the Georgia Bulldogs, South Carolina Gamecocks, Missouri Tigers and LSU Tigers. However, the team also suffered some disappointing losses to the Vanderbilt Commodores, Oklahoma Sooners and Michigan Wolverines, all of whom had lost five or more games last year.

DeBoer and several other SEC coaches attended the Regions Tradition, a Celebrity Pro-Am event. They also made an appearance on "The Paul Finebaum Show." During the next show, a caller expressed their opinion to the SEC Network analyst, stating that they felt DeBoer was the worst guest of the group due to DeBoer's personality, despite being an Alabama fan. Finebaum mentioned that this feedback concerns him as they move forward.

"Here’s what concerns me about that: He gave a real prominent speech the other day in the Birmingham area," Finebaum said. It was fairly well publicized, a breakfast meeting, and I had two different people tell me (Thursday) that it was very unconventional. It was a prayer breakfast. These two people whom I respect said it was just not very compelling at all."

There are also some concerns for DeBoer and his team on the field. Last season, the Crimson Tide finished with a record of 9-4, which marked their worst performance since 2007, the year Saban became head coach. This disappointing outcome occurred despite Alabama having the second-highest blue-chip ratio in the country, trailing only the Georgia Bulldogs. Blue-chip players are those rated four or five stars coming out of high school, and Alabama's roster included 76.92% blue-chip recruits.

Alabama is looking to rebound next season, and ESPN analytics believes it has a strong chance of achieving that. The Crimson Tide is ranked No. 2 in the country according to ESPN's SP+ rankings. These rankings are determined by three primary factors, which are weighted by their predictiveness: returning production, recent recruiting and recent performance history.

The Crimson Tide will kick off the 2025 season on the road against the Florida State Seminoles at 3:30 p.m. ET on Aug. 30.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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