Heisman-Trophy winner says Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer would get the praise he deserves at another program

Former Auburn quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton feels Alabama football’s head coach Kalen DeBoer would be praised more if he were the head coach at another program outside of the SEC.

ESPN’s Paul Finebaum created a lot of buzz when he called DeBoer a bad fit for Alabama. Newton responded to Finebaum’s statement on his “4th &1” podcast and shared he felt DeBoer was a great coach, and he would get praised more if he did not coach the Crimson Tide in the SEC immediately after Nick Saban.

“If you take Kalen DeBoer and put him in any other conference outside of the SEC, I think that team and conference would praise him as he should be praised,” Newton said. “ACC, Big Ten, Big-12, any of those teams having a Kalen DeBoer, with the hype or what he has been able to produce over the years, going to the College Football Playoff. As an ACC team, that’s maybe cool. That may be acceptable. That may be something that the fanbase will say okay cool, we can build off this. Not at Alabama, you can’t.”

Newton went on to say he feels DeBoer has an expectation at Alabama that is not attainable.

The University of Alabama recently extended DeBoer’s contract. DeBoer has won 20 games and lost eight as the head coach of the Crimson Tide.