Why Saban hopes DeBoer gets ‘ship going in the right direction’ at Alabama soon

Sep 13, 2025; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer surveys the field during the second half against the Wisconsin Badgers at Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Leong-Imagn Images

On the Pat McAfee show, the topic of Kalen DeBoer and the Alabama Crimson Tide came up during an interview with Nick Saban, and Saban shared his thoughts about Alabama’s 2025 season and how DeBoer is doing at Alabama.

“I do think Kalen DeBoer is a really good coach, and he’s doing a good job here,” Saban said. “This is a tough transition, especially in this environment that we live in in college football in terms of players coming and going. I think there was like 26 players that got in the portal when I retired, so that’s a lot to overcome for anybody, and it would have been a lot to overcome for even any of the guys that formerly coached for me, so I fully support Greg Bryne and how he’s done it. I hope they get the ship going in the right direction here. It’s not bad to get in the playoffs and finish in the final eight, but not the expectation around here which is tough to live up to sometimes.”

Saban was also asked why Alabama did not hire from his coaching tree after his retirement, and here’s how Saban responded.

“I think if somebody was available – I’m not sure anybody was available that they could have maybe gotten to come here,” Saban said.

The first two seasons of the DeBoer era featured unexpected losses at times like the 2024 Vanderbilt loss for example, but the third season will be the most important for this current coaching staff. This year, Alabama’s rushing attack was basically useless at times this year, and the deep passing game fell apart as the season progressed. Defensively, Alabama bounced back after the embarrassing Florida State loss and stayed strong until the Indiana game where the Hoosiers steamrolled over the Crimson Tide.

As the years fly by, this Crimson Tide roster is filling up with more players recruited by DeBoer and this staff, and the final groups of Saban-recruited players are slowly running out of eligibility. In a few seasons, Alabama’s roster will be all DeBoer-recruited players, and if the Crimson Tide do not look any tougher than they did in 2025, then the conversations about what’s best for the future of Alabama football will heat up again.