Kalen DeBoer's challenge: Prove Alabama can be great without Nick Saban
Alabama went just 67-55 in the decade before Nick Saban came to Tuscaloosa and turned the Tide into the winningest machine in college football. It was just 39-41 in SEC play, including three 2-6 seasons. There were losses to Northern Illinois, Southern Miss and Central Florida.
There were still moments for Bear Bryant’s old program — namely, a couple of 10-2 seasons. That was about it, though. Dennis Franchione put together one of them and then promptly bailed for Texas A&M.
Those years were known for political infighting, power plays and NCAA probations. As often as not, Alabama couldn’t get out of its own way. Florida and Tennessee were the cool, consistent programs. Auburn beat Alabama six consecutive times in the Iron Bowl.
At various points, coaches turned down Alabama so they could stay at South Carolina and West Virginia. The Tide lost one hire to a drunken night at a Gentlemen’s Club that included a $1,000 room service charge and a $20 million libel suit against Sports Illustrated.
Tuscaloosa was a houndstooth-clad punchline, with just one national title since the 1970s. The potential was clearly always there for Alabama. But the program needed the right guy to control it first and unlock it second.
Saban was that person. Seventeen seasons and six national titles later, he is now retired.
Alabama is set to hire Kalen DeBoer from Washington, and there is no denying the man’s coaching credentials. Fresh off leading the Huskies to the national championship game, the 49-year-old is 104-12 in his nine seasons as a head coach, including stints at Fresno State and NAIA Sioux Falls, where he won three national titles.
If this is about leading a team, then DeBoer will be great. Modern, major college football isn’t just about that, however. And it begs the question of whether Alabama is built to be the Alabama of Nick Saban — professional, unwavering, elite at everything. Or is it still susceptible to the pre-Saban days, when nothing quite works?
Is Alabama a truly great program? Or was Nick Saban a truly great coach who elevated a good program to something spectacular?
Everyone has a down spell in them. This is true even at programs that due to institutional support and external strengths appear impenetrable. Yet it happens. Texas has struggled. Michigan has struggled. USC has struggled. Florida State has struggled. Florida is struggling. Texas A&M is never not struggling.
The first thing Saban did was get everyone in line. He walked in with a national title on his résumé (won at LSU) to a desperate situation and took total control. He was a dominant personality. Trustees couldn’t cross him. Boosters did as they were told. Nearly the entire athletic department was built to maximize his vision.
That’s the advantage DeBoer finds. The budgets are huge. The brand is powerful. The fan base is energized. This is a turnkey operation as long as he can manage it.
Saban was also a maniacal recruiter. He was no glad-hander, no car salesman, but he was relentless in pursuit of the very best players and competitors he could find. As the wins and first-round draft picks piled up, he was able to turn Alabama into a national force.
It was critical because while the state produces its fair share of high-end talent, it’s not enough to win a national title (and Auburn is always going to get some of it). Saban had to win recruiting battles in Georgia and Louisiana and Florida, taking the fight to his rivals. Eventually, he was raiding Texas and Los Angeles and nearly anywhere else he wanted.
It isn’t easy. DeBoer, for all his victories, has never shown himself to be that level of recruiter.
Of course, rosters are assembled differently than even five years ago. NIL needs to be vigorous and well-deployed. The transfer portal needs to be executed flawlessly. Attracting and retaining talent is the key to everything, and it is truly a 365-days-a-year job. No doubt as it is at Georgia and LSU and the others.
Saban is leaving a college football world that is different from the one he dominated. Who knows if even he could've sustained his excellence into the future, where increased parity and a 12-team playoff will change so much.
DeBoer will need to approach that while operating under the shadow of what Saban did. Even unreasonable Alabama fans know the program is going to take a step back. What’s undetermined is how far "back" that entails.
DeBoer is the man replacing The Man, and there is a long list of excellent coaches with promising careers who wilted under similar circumstances. What happens next will be fascinating.
Alabama is hiring an excellent and resourceful coach. There is no doubt about that. He figured out how to win every step of the way, often at challenging locations. At Alabama, he has every resource available.
It's just that Saban was so successful in showing what Alabama can be in the modern era that almost no one recalls what a mediocre mess it was before he arrived or how challenging it might be to maintain it.
