Oftentimes, college football coaches are overlooked and judged too quickly based on short-term setbacks or unwanted results. Although Kalen DeBoer has faced struggles at Alabama over the past few years, they don’t represent his overall career as a head coach.
DeBoer’s resume is impressive, as he began his coaching career at Sioux Falls. DeBoer won two NAIA championships (2006, 2008) and went 52-3 in the five seasons with Sioux Falls. He ended his career finishing with a perfect 15-0 and winning a third NAIA championship (2009).
After Sioux Falls, DeBoer moved to higher division schools. He became the offensive coordinator for Eastern Michigan and Indiana, having a reputation for building high-powered offenses and developing quarterbacks. Most notably, being the offensive coordinator for Indiana during the 2020 football season, where the team went 6-2, notably beating (#8) Penn State in the first game of the year.
In late 2021, DeBoer made his way to Washington, becoming the new head coach for the Huskies. He brought along the future Heisman runner-up, Michael Penix from Indiana, at quarterback. The 2022 Huskies were 11-2 and finished 24th in the AP poll with notable wins over Michigan State and Oregon. As a first-year coach, this was impressive as DeBoer made a substantial impact on the team’s performance. The year after Deboer led the Huskies to a 13-0 Season, defeating Oregon in the Pac-12 championship and Texas, and the college football playoffs semifinals, although falling short to Michigan in a 34-13 loss for the national championship.
After Nick Saban’s retirement on January 12th, 2024, Kalen Deboer was announced as the new head coach for the Alabama Crimson Tide. Although not his first Crimson team, this job came with a lot more pressure. In his first season at Alabama, he failed to win 11 games, which was the first time that had happened to the Tide in 14 years. Critics were questioning whether this job was fit for DeBoer, and turmoil began in the fanbase. Most recently, Alabama lost to Florida State University (17-31). Last year, the Florida State Seminoles went 2-10. It immediately caused uproar in the Alabama fan base, with fans questioning the decision on hiring DeBoer.
I believe, although DeBoer is struggling, his past achievements are overlooked by his recent mishaps with Alabama. I still have faith in DeBoer and believe he will figure things out because of his past experiences, and he has proved he is capable of being a winning coach.
