Alabama Crimson Tide football coach Kalen DeBoer is no Nick Saban. That much has been evident since the Vanderbilt Commodores downed the Tide 40-35 in Nashville last October.
Ahead of the highly anticipated rematch in Tuscaloosa, all eyes are on DeBoer. Could the 50-year-old handle business the way his predecessor did against 206 of his 235 career opponents? Or will the ghost of Saban continue to haunt Alabama?
ESPN’s Bill Connelly focused on all the things Saban did that DeBoer hasn’t been able to. One of the stats that summed up the biggest difference between the two, as Connelly shares, is losses against unranked teams. Another thing Saban excelled at that DeBoer needs to do with Vanderbilt and the Oklahoma Sooners on the schedule this season? Getting revenge.
“Part of succeeding a legend is that we notice anytime you don't live up to the legend's standards. Granted, Kalen DeBoer has proven adept at continuing Nick Saban's relative success against Kirby Smart's Georgia, but DeBoer's track record otherwise has some holes. He has already lost four games to unranked teams, as many as Saban lost in 17 years. Not great,” Connelly wrote.
“Saban was particularly good at putting upstarts in their place -- think of Michigan State and Washington in the College Football Playoff. Or Missouri in the SEC championship game. Or Mississippi State every time the Bulldogs thought they were good. He was also good at revenge. His Crimson Tide bopped Tim Tebow's Florida in 2009 and beat LSU by three TDs when they got a second shot at the Tigers in the 2011 BCS Championship Game. They lost to Auburn four times but won the following year by an average of 25 points.”
DeBoer owns losses to the unranked 2024 Commodores, Sooners, and Michigan Wolverines in the 2025 ReliaQuest Bowl and 2025 Florida State Seminoles. Saban had non-ranked losses to FSU, Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks, and the Auburn Tigers in 2007, and the Texas A&M Aggies in 2021.
DeBoer cannot afford another ranked loss this season. As of Week 6, there are only three non-ranked opponents left on the schedule. The South Carolina Gamecocks and Auburn, for all of their early-season troubles, could make that number “one” by season’s end.
As his wins over the Georgia Bulldogs have shown over the past two years, DeBoer can win big games. It seems the pluckier opponents are his Achilles Heel.