Alabama’s football program is legendary, with 30 conference championships and 15 national titles under its belt. So, anyone who steps in as head coach has some serious expectations to meet. Right now, that’s Kalen DeBoer, who’s filling in after the retirement of Nick Saban – the guy who led Alabama to six national titles and put them at the top of the college football world.

Saban retired after a great season in 2023, where he led the Tide to a 12-2 record, an SEC championship, and a spot in the College Football Playoff. Unfortunately, they lost a tough overtime game to Michigan, who ended up winning it all. But DeBoer’s first season as head coach didn’t go as planned. The Tide ended up with a 9-4 record, their worst since Saban’s rookie year back in 2007 when the team was just 7-6.

On “The Paul Finebaum Show,” Finebaum shared his concerns about DeBoer’s ability to handle the pressure at such a high-profile program. Finebaum said, “DeBoer’s a great coach, but can he be that at Alabama? Can he deal with the tough challenges that have tripped up every Alabama coach in recent years, except for one?”

Finebaum makes a good point. After Gene Stallings left in 1996, Alabama went through three different head coaches. They had some good seasons with a few 10-win records but also had some disappointing ones with losing records. Saban came in, turned things around, and never had a season with fewer than 10 wins after his first year. But DeBoer’s already had a season with less than 10 wins.

Now, the pressure’s on him to get Alabama back to where it’s used to being. If he can’t handle it, he might find that being the head coach of Alabama’s football team is tougher than it looks