There is not a college football program in the country with higher expectations and more demands placed on it than the Alabama Crimson Tide. As such, there is probably no coach under more pressure than Alabama’s Kalen DeBoer, especially as he tries to follow in the footsteps of one of college football’s all-time giants in Nick Saban.
Two years into his tenure, the results have been quite a ways off from the standard that Saban had set for the program over the previous decade-plus.
Not only is he not on the hot seat for that performance, but the school also announced on Wednesday that it has extended DeBoer’s contract through the 2033 season.
Alabama renews its commitment to Kalen DeBoer with massive contract extension
It is not just the added years to his contract that stand out.
It is also the fact that he is getting a significant pay increase, reportedly going from $10.5 million in 2026 to $12.5 million, placing him among the five highest-paid coaches in all of college football.
While the overall record for DeBoer in his first two seasons with Alabama would be a welcome sight for most programs (20-8), it is not normally what Alabama expects and tolerates. In his first year, the Crimson Tide lost four games for the first time since the 2007 season and failed to qualify for the College Football Playoff. In year two, the Crimson Tide went 11-4, qualified for the playoffs, and then suffered the worst postseason loss (38-3) in program history.
The results have been, in a vacuum, fine. This is a totally normal two-year stretch for a run-of-the-mill college football program, and perhaps even an above-average college football program. It’s good. Really good.
But Alabama does not see itself as a run-of-the-mill college football program. “Good” and “really good” are not the standard that is set here. It expects championships. In two years, DeBoer has not gotten close to that level.
He still might, and he joined Alabama after taking Washington to the national championship game in his final year with the Huskies. That at least shows he is totally capable of reaching that stage and that level. Alabama is taking a big bet that he will get there again.