Kalen DeBoer knows that expectations for his second season at the helm of the Alabama Crimson Tide football program will be much higher after a disappointing 2024 campaign. Ahead of spring training, DeBoer made one thing clear to the players about what’s at stake this year.
Alabama will kick off their 2025 NCAA season with a big matchup against the Florida State Seminoles in Tallahassee. That game will have an immediate impact on what is a do-or-die year for the Crimson Tide. After missing the playoffs in 2024, Alabama cannot afford to repeat that disappointment in DeBoer’s second season in Tuscaloosa.
With much buzz surrounding the Tide’s starting quarterback position after Jalen Milroe’s departure for the NFL, DeBoer will need to name his replacement and stick with his decision in what is shaping up to be a pivotal season.
Whether Ty Simpson, Austin Mack, or incoming freshman Keelon Russell start under center for the Crimson Tide, DeBoer sent everybody on the team a very firm message about the upcoming college football season.
“Other than we want to, we need to be that championship program,” Kalen DeBoer admitted during an interview on The Will Cain Show. “And that just means you got to prepare at a championship level. We’re a year into it now, and it just feels completely different.
“You know, a year ago at this time, we were trying to hire about three more coaches this week with spring ball starting less than two weeks from now. So we’re in a much better position. It really means nothing. It’s still about the work, but I like where we’re headed.”
Sensing the pressure
While DeBoer may try to distract himself and the team from it, the undeniable fact remains ever-present in Tuscaloosa: Nick Saban has set the bar to the highest of standards, and DeBoer’s Alabama must prove it can replicate at least some of the success Saban had in the Yellowhammer State.
“I’m just disappointed that we didn’t do what we needed to do to get in this last year,” DeBoer said. “And that’s what we’re focused on taking care of here in this off-season, is to make sure we do what we’re supposed to do to get in, no matter how many teams are in it.“