'We Fell Short': Kalen DeBoer Ready To Live Up To Alabama Standard In Year Two

Year one of the Kalen DeBoer era in Tuscaloosa did not go according to plan. After rising to No. 1 in the AP Poll following an electric 41-34 win over Georgia, the Crimson Tide went 5-4 down the stretch, failing to win ten games for the first time since 2007 and losing to Michigan in the ReliaQuest Bowl.

"We fell short," DeBoer said of the 2024 campaign. "It's as simple as that."

Alabama went unbeaten at home but dropped road games to Vanderbilt, Tennessee, and Oklahoma. The Commodores and Sooners finished a combined 13-13 on the season, marking the continuation of a trend that has remained ever-present throughout DeBoer's five years as an FBS coach. DeBoer is 15-3 against top-25 teams and 10 of his 13 losses have come against unranked opposition.

We first saw it in 2020, when his Fresno State squad lost to a New Mexico team that went 2-5 on the year. The following season, DeBoer's Bulldogs went 9-3 with a win over ranked UCLA, but dropped a headscratcher to 6-7 Hawaii. In 2022, his first year with Washington, DeBoer's Huskies went 11-2 and would have had the opportunity to play for a Pac-12 Championship and a potential College Football Playoff berth if it weren't for a loss to a 3-9 Arizona State team led by a former fifth-string walk-on at quarterback.

DeBoer's teams have consistently performed well in big games, but with the exception of the 2023 season with Washington, he is yet to put together an upset-free season— something that will need to change if he is to have sustained success at Alabama.

"A lot of those losses happened in year one at different places," DeBoer said. "A lot of it comes down to those big moments, building a culture where you keep fighting till the very end. There's going to be a lot of close games. A lot of those wins you're talking about came down to the very end, moments where it looked bleak at times. You fight, execute, find a way to win. That's what we've got to do here going into year two at Alabama."

DeBoer has shown significant growth in year two at both of his prior stops, going from 3-3 in 2020 to 9-3 in 2021 at Fresno State and then 11-2 in 2022 to 14-1 with a loss in the national championship game in 2023 with Washington. With a roster that most analysts agree has improved heading into 2025, it looks like he is primed to replicate the feat this fall.

"You want year two to be moments of growth, where you can polish and clean things up," DeBoer said. "Areas where you installed offense, defense, special teams schemes that are just now your foundation. You never are taking it for granted. You're starting over from scratch every season. Now you build on tangent which you have that help you win more football games."

The entire organization has been receptive to everything DeBoer has implemented. Alabama returns its entire coaching staff, while adding offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb, and was the only SEC team not to lose a single player in the spring portal. Continuity is one of the Crimson Tide's biggest strengths heading into 2025, and there is a chip on the shoulder of everybody who was disappointed by the on field play last year.

"I'm proud of them and the way they've responded to us not realizing the goals that we set out to have, getting back to work, focusing on the main thing," DeBoer said. "I feel that's always been the case. Sometimes there's ups and downs that you have to go through unfortunately that we had to experience. But in the end, we're going to take advantage of the failures we've had and be better because of it."