​Kalen DeBoer has won 20 games in his first two seasons at Alabama, but for many Crimson Tide fans, that still does not feel like enough. At most college football programs, a 20-8 record would be viewed as a strong start and a reason for optimism. In Tuscaloosa, however, the standard is completely different. Listen to Alabama sports radio, and the tone is often more frustrated than celebratory. The message is usually the same: if the Crimson Tide are not seriously competing for a national championship, the season feels incomplete.
That is the reality DeBoer stepped into when he replaced Nick Saban. The pressure surrounding Alabama football is not normal, even by SEC standards. It is not simply about winning games. It is about winning at the level Saban established over nearly two decades, when national titles, playoff appearances, dominant recruiting classes, and championship expectations became part of the program’s identity.
“When he was hired, I remember thinking this is going to be an interesting ride to see what is going to be good enough for him. Following Nick Saban is truly one of the most difficult situations you could be thrown into,” Michael Casagrande said on The Paul Finebaum Show.
That is the heart of what some have called the “Saban Curse.” It is not about bad luck or some mysterious force working against DeBoer. It is about being measured against a standard that may be nearly impossible to match. At Alabama, a good season can still feel disappointing if it does not end with a championship. A strong record can still be picked apart if there are ugly losses or missed opportunities along the way.
“He’s on the right path, generally speaking. But it was never going to be good enough when you follow Nick Saban and the consistency of excellence they had around here for so long. So there was always going to be this natural backlash,” Casagrande added.
Alabama has not experienced this kind of coaching transition in decades. Before Saban arrived, the Crimson Tide had endured long stretches without national titles, and the program’s expectations, while still high, were not shaped by annual dominance. Saban changed all of that. He delivered six national championships at Alabama and turned deep postseason runs into something that felt routine. For a generation of fans, the baseline became championship contention every year.
That is why DeBoer’s early tenure feels so complicated. His record is respectable. He has delivered meaningful wins. He has kept Alabama relevant on the national stage. But relevance is not the same as dominance in Tuscaloosa. When a fan base has been conditioned to expect the College Football Playoff, SEC titles, and national championship runs, anything less can be interpreted as regression.
The pressure DeBoer faces is unlike anything he has dealt with in his coaching career. He is not just trying to win games. He is trying to prove that Alabama can remain Alabama after Saban. Every loss is magnified. Every close game becomes a referendum. Every recruiting battle is viewed through the lens of whether the Tide are slipping from the top of the sport.
The difficult part for DeBoer is that the bad moments have often lingered longer than the good ones. He has notable victories on his Alabama résumé, including a 34-24 road comeback against Brent Venables and Oklahoma in the playoff. That kind of win would be celebrated at many schools as proof of toughness and growth. At Alabama, it can quickly be overshadowed by a lopsided defeat.
The 38-3 loss to Indiana in the Rose Bowl quarterfinals remains the defining example. That game cast a long shadow over DeBoer’s second season. Alabama managed only 193 total yards, and the defeat became the program’s largest loss in any game since 1998. For many fans, that performance was more than just one bad night. It became evidence, fair or not, that the Crimson Tide were no longer operating at the level they had reached under Saban.
Those kinds of results fuel the harshest version of the DeBoer narrative. Critics argue that Alabama has stumbled in high-profile moments in ways it rarely did during Saban’s prime. Whether that comparison is reasonable is another matter. Saban was one of the greatest coaches in college football history, and holding any successor to that exact standard is an enormous burden. Still, that is the comparison DeBoer inherited the moment he accepted the job.
There are also modern challenges that make the situation even more difficult. College football has changed dramatically in the NIL and transfer portal era. Recruiting is no longer only about tradition, facilities, NFL development, and championship history. Money now plays a major role, and NIL collectives have become a central part of roster building. Alabama remains one of the sport’s biggest brands, but it is not always at the very top of the NIL spending race.
That matters because the margin for error is smaller than ever. Programs across the SEC and the rest of the country can now use NIL opportunities to close the gap. Top players have more leverage, more options, and more reasons to consider schools that might not have been able to compete with Alabama during the height of the Saban dynasty. DeBoer is trying to maintain elite expectations while operating in a college football landscape that is far less stable than the one Saban dominated for so long.
For Alabama fans, the question is not whether DeBoer is a good coach. His track record suggests that he is. The question is whether being good is enough at a place where greatness became the expectation. Winning 20 games in two seasons would satisfy most fan bases. In Tuscaloosa, it has only intensified the debate over whether DeBoer can truly keep the Crimson Tide among college football’s elite.
That is the challenge of following Nick Saban. DeBoer is not just coaching against opponents on the schedule. He is coaching against memories, expectations, and a standard that may never fully fade. The “Saban Curse” is not a curse in the traditional sense. It is the weight of history, the burden of comparison, and the reality that at Alabama, even winning seasons can feel empty if they do not end with a trophy.