Former Alabama QB points out what 'no one wants to focus on' when evaluating Kalen DeBoer's first season in Tuscaloosa
Kalen DeBoer's first season as the head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide was an up-and-down affair. The former Washington Huskies head coach stepped into the toughest gig in college football in 2024 when he replaced Nick Saban as Alabama's head coach. Replacing a legend is never easy. Replacing arguably the greatest college football head […]
Kalen DeBoer's first season as the head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide was an up-and-down affair.
The former Washington Huskies head coach stepped into the toughest gig in college football in 2024 when he replaced Nick Saban as Alabama's head coach.
Replacing a legend is never easy. Replacing arguably the greatest college football head coach of all time is almost an impossible task.
DeBoer provided some great moments for Alabama fans in 2024 — beating the Georgia Bulldogs was the highlight of the year — but losses to Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Oklahoma, and Michigan mired what would've been an otherwise incredibly impressive debut season.
Earlier this week, ESPN college football analyst/former Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy graded each first year coach's performance in 2024.
McElroy gave DeBoer a B- while pointing out something about Alabama's 2024 season that "no one wants to focus on".
"The portal was very difficult for Alabama last year," said McElroy. "They lost 31 guys in the portal. And who can blame some of these guys? Several of which decided to go in, they had signed up to play for Nick Saban. When Nick Saban left, it was a mass exodus, and it was really, really tough. They lost some of their best players. Caleb Downs, who became an All-American at Ohio State, maybe the best player on Ohio State's defense last year that was first in the country, he leaves. Isaiah Bond leaves, goes to become a go-to guy at Texas at wide receiver. They also lose Amari Niblack at tight end to Texas. They lose Trey Amos, who would have been a starter — one of the best corners in the SEC — he would have started for Bama. He goes to Ole Miss and becomes a star. They lose to Ja'Corey Brooks, who was Louisville's wide receiver that made a lot of big plays for the Cardinals this past year. And they also lose Seth McLaughlin, who went on the win the Remington [Award] as the best center in college football.
"So they lost a ton. That's not even all of them. By the way, they lost 31 guys in the portal. And nobody wants to focus on that right now. Nobody wants to address the depth on this Alabama roster and that the quality that was on this Alabama roster is different from that of the team that was competing for championships regularly between 2009 and 2021. The depth was very, very different. They did go out and they gained some guys that really made a huge impact. They gained 11 (players from the portal). But to lose 31 is a pretty big undertaking to try to overcome."
"On a scale of one to 10, one being, yeah, we actually improved in the portal and 10 being, man, we lost a lot in the portal, we got very little left, I think Alabama was a nine," added McElroy. "I think their portal turnover was that significant — especially when it came down to the depth."
That might sound like an excuse from McElroy, but it's spot on. We saw in college football last season that ultimately the team with the most talent and the deepest roster is the team that has the best chance to win it all. Last year, that team was Ohio State. And the Buckeyes, unsurprisingly, were the team that hoisted the national championship trophy at the end of the season.
DeBoer wasn't perfect in 2024 — he has plenty of areas where he can improve moving forward. But the biggest thing DeBoer and Alabama need to do to get back to the mountaintop of college football is recruit, recruit, recruit. Whether it's via high school recruiting or the transfer portal, the focus has to be on acquiring as much talent as possible. Otherwise, it's going to be tough to consistently get past teams like Ohio State.
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