Four reasons why Kalen DeBoer could leave Alabama

Kalen DeBoer has been doing nothing but succeeding off the field since his arrival in Tuscaloosa. But that is just it in the mind of critics; all it has been so far is off the field.

The way Alabama fans see it is he can only prove what he can prove before the season begins, and he has done that at a high level. Alabama was recently ranked by On3 as the number one recruiting class in the country. DeBoer has had the Tide rising in the recruiting ranks since his arrival. To-date, the first year head coach has pulled in five, five star recruits.

With all of that being said, DeBoer’s allegiance to the University of Alabama I do not think has been questioned enough. DeBoer is saying and doing all of the right things, but coaches do this all of the time and then turn around exiting stage left.

Three examples of this would be Lane Kiffin leaving Tennessee, Roy Williams leaving Kansas and Nick Saban leaving LSU. All of these coaches had their fan bases at ease thinking there was no way they were going anywhere, and then abruptly departed. Alabama fans should not be too naïve to think that DeBoer is exempt from doing something like this.

Why would Kalen DeBoer leave the Alabama Crimson Tide?

Pressure in Alabama could be too much for DeBoer

Some experts have the Tide finishing at 9-3 in DeBoer’s first season. Although he would keep his job, he would inevitably feel the heat not only after the 2024 season, but most likely during it as well.

For a program that only lost three or more games one time under recently retired head coach Nick Saban, DeBoer could begin to quickly feel pressure like no other, and an easy solution would be to leave for another job.

Kalen DeBoer could leave for the NFL

With the grind of college football in 2024 being way different than when DeBoer and many others first started coaching, the NFL may be an enticing outlet. Pay would be very similar if not higher, and DeBoer would not have to deal with the never-ending recruiting cycle or NIL.

This would not be too ironic for Alabama fans considering their previous coach Nick Saban left LSU for the same reason back in early 2004.

Kalen DeBoer could fail to meet expectations at Alabama

Similar but not the same as feeling pressure at Alabama, while DeBoer may not care about the pressure, administration could still let him go if he strings together a few subpar seasons, or does not perform well in the college football playoff.

Kalen DeBoer never stays anywhere for long

Two years is the longest amount of time that DeBoer has stayed at an FBS school as the head coach. DeBoer coached the Fresno State Bulldogs in 2020 and 2021, and then the Washington Huskies in 2022 and 2023. This could replicate itself for the Tide, but time will have to tell.

The counter argument here is that DeBoer has been working his way up to a job like he has at the University of Alabama, which is seen as a program pinnacle at the collegiate level.