There’s no honeymoon phase when you’re replacing the greatest college football coach of all time. Kalen DeBoer has inherited a dynasty. And as Alabama heads into year two of the post-Saban era, saying that the pressure on DeBoer is high would be an understatement. For the Bama head coach, this season could decide not only his long-term job security but also the very aura that the elephant symbol commands in the entire CFB.
The stakes for DeBoer? Around $66.75 million. That’s the money that will be left on DeBoer’s deal after 2025. And if Alabama decides to cut ties, they’ll still owe him 90% of it. And that comes out to $60.075 million. That’s a hefty price tag. But in Tuscaloosa, “good” doesn’t even cut it. A second straight year without a playoff appearance, and the whispers around DeBoer’s fit in the program could become roars.
On Josh Pate’s College Football Show, Pate laid down his odds. “Kalen DeBoer is brand new; he has no equity built up, and so if he goes 9-3 two years in a row, it’s an existential crisis,” he warned. “And mark my words, it will be. I’m not even fighting that. It’s a losing battle if he goes 9-3 again.” That’s a reading of the Alabama room. The message? 10-2 is the floor. Anything less, and the fallout could be nuclear. 9-3 won’t cut it. And please, let’s not talk about 8-4.
But it’s not just about win-loss records. Pate pointed to something bigger: the identity of Alabama football. “What it would do also is it would kill the aura of Alabama football,” he said. “Right now, it’s reasonable to say Saban’s gone, DeBoer is here, yeah, they missed the playoffs last year, but man, there’s still something that is extra special about that script A. It’s a different vibe when they walk in your building, it’s a different vibe when coaches walk in my high school, and they got that logo on the polo.” That ‘aura’ gives Bama its edge in living rooms and recruiting pitches. But if Alabama slips again? He said they’ll end up being “just another of the really good programs out there.”
DeBoer does not have to match Nick Saban’s legacy overnight. But he has to uphold it and uphold it fast. Because in Tuscaloosa, the cost of losing isn’t just money. Money is the last thing Bama cares about. But the mystique, aura, and the very reputation that keep the Crimson Tide rolling? They do not joke around with it.
The Nick Saban Tax
Replacing a legend was never going to come cheap, especially at Alabama. And no, we’re not talking dollars. Josh Pate, on his College Football Show, explained that if the Crimson Tide go 9-3 again this year, the panic level will detonate. “The fan base will lose it,” he said bluntly. And why wouldn’t they? When your standard is national titles and playoff berths, missing the postseason in back-to-back seasons becomes a crisis. But it’s not just about Kalen DeBoer. It’s about the expectations Nick Saban left behind, what Pate accurately calls the Saban tax.
“The Saban tax was always going to be there,” Pate noted. “Whoever takes over for him is going to have gigantic shoes to fill.” That shadow looms over every decision and every Saturday in Tuscaloosa. Fans and pundits measure DeBoer not by last season’s record, but by the legacy that Saban has created. Pate raised a thought-provoking hypothetical: What if Saban hadn’t retired? Would the results be much different? “How do we know if Saban was still there, he wouldn’t have gone 9-3 last year too?” he asked, reminding fans that the Tide had started to wobble even under the GOAT, needing a miracle to win the Iron Bowl in 2023.
That’s the burden of following the greatest to ever do it. Even a playoff loss feels like falling off a cliff when Saban’s last game was the playoff. And now, in the post-Saban world, Alabama is battling ghosts of perfection. DeBoer’s challenge is to preserve an aura. One stumble too many, and that mystique could vanish, along with Alabama’s place on the recruiting throne.
The post Kalen DeBoer Faces Cutoff to Save $60M Future and Alabama’s Prestige appeared first on EssentiallySports.
