DeBoer gets asked if Alabama is aware of national doubt

Nov 8, 2025; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer walks the sidelines in his black hoodie during the game with LSU at Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary Cosby Jr.-Imagn Images

The first day of Alabama football’s fall camp is complete, and head coach Kalen DeBoer spoke to reporters about the lower than usual expectations the media have put on Alabama.

At Alabama, the internal expectation is winning a championship, but the media’s expectations for Alabama are lower than that.

The media at SEC Media Days voted on the finishing order in the SEC, and the votes had Alabama finishing sixth in the conference. The Crimson Tide appeared in the SEC Championship game last year and was the home team, meaning they led the conference going into the conference championship game.

The coaches poll also has dealt a little bit of disrespect toward Alabama as the Crimson Tide received a ranking of 11th in the poll to start the upcoming season.  It is the lowest ranking the Crimson Tide have received in this poll to start a season since 2008.

“Yeah, we are definitely aware,” DeBoer said when asked about these expectations and if the guys pay attention to this kind of stuff.

Shortly after, DeBoer dove a little deeper and talked about working in silence, which goes with what DeBoer said at SEC Media Days about Alabama flying under the radar a bit ahead of the season.

“We’ve talked about working in silence since January,” DeBoer said. “We know what our goals are. We know what our expectations are. We’ve never shied away from that.”

Alabama fans and media members will pay attention to how Alabama handles disrespect on the ball field, something the Crimson Tide failed to do at times last season.

DeBoer’s entering his third season as the head coach of the Crimson Tide, and he led Alabama to the College Football Playoffs before falling short to Indiana in the Rose Bowl.