No. 6 Alabama, Kalen DeBoer feel stuck after double-digit road loss at No. 14 Tennessee

Alabama showing no growth in third season under head coach Kalen DeBoer

Instead of improving under DeBoer, Alabama is stuck in a dreaded purgatory, good enough to be a fringe playoff contender but far removed from the sport's elite. If that sounds unacceptable for a tradition-rich program such as Alabama, that's because it is.

The Tide are halfway to losing four games in the third year in a row, which would be the program's longest such streak since 1982-84.

In DeBoer's first season taking over for coaching legend Nick Saban, he suffered a stunning road loss at the Vanderbilt Commodores, which was followed two weeks later by his first loss at Tennessee. One month later, Alabama laid an egg in a 24-3 loss to the Oklahoma Sooners that knocked the program from playoff contention.

Last season was only marginally better, with the Tide falling at Florida State, which finished 5-7, in Week 1 and losing three of their final six games, including blowout losses in the SEC championship game to the Georgia Bulldogs and CFP quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl against the Indiana Hoosiers by a combined score of 66-10.

After a promising start to 2026, Alabama has once again proven to be a pretender under DeBoer when faced with stiffer competition. Over the past two weeks, his offense has scored 27 points combined after averaging 49.6 points per game from Weeks 1-5.

The sharp downturn may spark fresh doubts over DeBoer's future in Tuscaloosa. As 247Sports Alabama reporter Mike Rodak noted, the former Washington Huskies coach has struggled with the Tide recently in games when both teams enter ranked, going 2-5 in the last seven instances.

If DeBoer had taken over a rebuilding program, he might be afforded more patience — even as the transfer portal has given coaches access to more immediate turnarounds. But Alabama isn't some fledgling program finding its footing. It's the premier college football program of the 21st century.

Under DeBoer, however, it's increasingly looking less like it. And in Year 3, one would think he'd be much further along. Saban, for example, won his first of six national titles at Alabama in his third season while going 14-0.

Perhaps most troubling about Saturday's loss wasn't that quarterback Keelon Russell, who finished 19-of-29 for 147 yards and two interceptions, and the offense continued to regress, but how much more physical Tennessee was at the line of scrimmage.

The Vols rushed 41 times for 150 yards while holding the Tide to 54 yards on 26 carries (2.1 yards per attempt). Tennessee finished with 10 tackles for loss (five sacks) compared to just two (one sack) for Bama.

That would have never been tolerated under Saban, but under DeBoer, it's become a habit.

Saturday was a reminder of Alabama's decline in the years since Saban's retirement, raising fresh questions about the program's direction. DeBoer has been overmatched far too often, both with his coaching and the rosters he's built.

If things don't turn around quickly, it's fair to start questioning how many more chances he'll get.