Alabama Crimson Tide supporters are unsure what to think of Kalen DeBoer and the 2024 Alabama Crimson Tide. It’s unclear which Alabama football squad will compete in this season’s Iron Bowl. ‘Good’ Alabama will defeat the Auburn Tigers. ‘Bad’ Alabama might get by, but they could potentially lose.
A loss to Auburn in Tuscaloosa would generate an outrage that Kalen DeBoer cannot fathom. The Alabama football fans are impatient. As the brief Dennis Franchione era demonstrated, people can tolerate fraud if they win. However, if they do not, we will dismiss past Crimson Tide heroes.
Kalen DeBoer is not a fraud. His head coaching career has been quite successful. Many Alabama Crimson Tide fans still believe in DeBoer’s Alabama future. An Iron Bowl loss would radically alter that perspective.
Alabama football history, dating back to the 1950s, shows that Crimson Tide first-year coaches rarely perform well. The obvious exceptions were Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant and Nick Saban. In both cases, they inherited Alabama programs in near-total disorder. Bryant followed an Ears Whitworth team that finished 2-7-1 in 1957. Bryant’s first Alabama team finished 5-4-1. Bryant won the national championship three seasons later. Nick Saban took over a 6-7 Alabama team in 2006, improved the 2007 record to 7-6, and won the National Championship just two seasons later.
Alabama Crimson Tide First-Season Coaching Failures
The worst first-year transition occurred in 1955. Alabama finished 4-5-2 in 1954, led by Red Drew. Alabama went 0-10 in the first of Ears Whitworth’s three seasons as head coach. Two seasons later, Ears was sacked with a 4-24-2 record.
Mike Dubose succeeded Gene Stallings in 1997. Stallings’ last Alabama team finished 10-3. The next season, Dubose led the Tide to a 4-7 record.
Mike Shula was employed in a no-win scenario. After ‘Hold the Rope’ Franchione went for Texas A&M, Alabama hired Mike Price. Price has never coached a game. Shula did his alma mater a great favour by taking control. Alabama finished 10-3 in 2002 under Franchione’s leadership. Shula’s first season, the Crimson Tide finished 4-9.
Bill Curry followed Ray Perkins in 1987 as he opted to return to the NFL. The previous Perkins team was 10-3. Curry led the Crimson Tide to a 7-5 record the following season.
Alabama Crimson Tide fans justifiably love Gene Stallings. But after Curry likewise fled; in this case to Kentucky, Stallings followed a 10-2 Curry season, with a 7-5 record in 1990. Two seasons later Stallings and Alabama won a National Championship.
Does this Crimson Tide history lesson provide any meaningful perspective on DeBoer’s future? Every season has a distinct set of circumstances. What can be inferred is that many Alabama supporters were incorrect in believing DeBoer was handed the keys to a Ferrari. To some extent, he was, but that changed dramatically when 40 players transferred or left for the NFL. DeBoer inherited and later developed a very talented roster. However, it was (and is) a faulty roster for which Kalen DeBoer bears little responsibility.
An Iron Bowl victory and a 9-3 Crimson Tide record have generally been indicative of first-year success. Perhaps unfairly, an Iron Bowl loss and an 8-4 Crimson Tide record will be judged as a monumental failure.