“I think most people did understand that the first year could be difficult.” 2007 Alabama. Nick Saban came in to lead the Tide to greatness, but it resulted in arguably one of the worst seasons in Crimson Tide football. 7-5. No playoffs. No natty. An OT loss to Georgia and a blowout 10-17 loss in the Iron Bowl. But there was a sign. “The Tennessee game, I thought, ‘This team probably doesn’t have a chance in this game.” 41-17 massive win against the Vols. Nick Saban showed the people that he knew what he was doing. All that the Tide and Saban needed was faith. And they got it. People understood that Nick Saban could make this program go buck wild in the future, and the AP No.1 rank in 2008 proved it.

16 long years of Bama domination under Saban, and when it was time to pass on the crown and let a different HC carry forward the program, times had already changed drastically. “It feels like the Saban golden days were a long time ago now… Not only is Alabama not going to touch the Saban golden days again, but Nobody in college football is going to touch the Saban golden days again,” Josh Pate pointed out.

Nick Saban’s retirement from the Tide was a sign pointing to how even the former HC could not bring back the 2009 to 2020 era of Tide football. It is just not possible in this landscape. 2009 – No.1 recruitment class in the nation. 2011 – again No.1 recruitment class in the country. And the same ordeal through 2012-14. But things are not the same anymore.

“We don’t play the same sport,” Pate adds. The NIL and portal changes have revamped recruitment. There is no one big team out there that is snatching off all the best players. You put in the money, you get the cream of the crop. Ohio State. Over $21 million in NIL, and that has gotten them one of the best running and receiver crops in the country.

Ryan Day easily managed to overthrow the proverbial kings of college football, aka Oregon Ducks. And one of the best SEC defenses, the Vols. And none of these games were of a close margin. 41-21 against the Ducks and 42-17 against the Vols.

And Michigan? $10.5 million to get the No.1 QB of the 2025 class away from LSU. Even if Kalen DeBoer jumps onto this ship thinking of recreating the Saban era, it is simply not possible. A part of College Football has turned into this money game. Giving players free agency leads to million-dollar demands, which just wasn’t a thing like back in 2012.

Good coaching ain’t everything anymore, and somewhere, Nick Saban knew it. He arguably did the smartest thing when he signed off from the HC pedestal. SEC’s downfall didn’t happen because of this man’s exit. It happened because the SEC failed to use the power of NIL and the portal.

Saban knew what was going to happen, and despite him citing health concerns, every core fan of CFB knows it was because of the changing landscape. “And if you don’t do what Saban did or don’t come close to that, you’re not achieving greatness, like that is setting yourself up for mental anguish,” Pate mentioned. So, what does Kalen DeBoer do now?

The road ahead for the Crimson Tide

The 9-4 year with slaps to the faces by Oklahoma, Vandy, and Michigan was needed. The games proved that DeBoer had a ton of work left to put into the offense and that Bama had become too one-dimensional. The team’s entire existence was based on how their quarterback performed. And most of the time? It wasn’t good.

Jalen Milroe is not a bad quarterback. However, this year, he was sinking the entire team along with him, with 11 interceptions compared to the 6 from last year. Not only that. Too much time was wasted inside the pocket and almost every single last-moment throw to the receiver was an incompletion.

Tide did pull massive wins against Georgia and LSU, but at what cost? See, DeBoer is not a bad quarterback coach. His experience with the Huskies and even Michael Penix Jr. proved so, but this time, the Milroe and DeBoer pairing just wasn’t valid.

But then again, you have to drag Nick Sheridan into the mess as well. Not only was the play calling schizophrenic, but most of the time, Sheridan didn’t even know how to utilize Jalen Milroe. He was forced to become a passer in the Sooners game when every Bama fan knows that Milroe shines when it comes down to rushes.

And not only that. Talen from the receiver and running back room was barely used, and it explains why Bama is facing a 14-player portal exodus. The 2025 season will fall on the shoulders of Keelon Russell. Not a bad player, but the expectations should be minimal.

Following this, DeBoer needs to hire a better OC. The Crimson Tide defense under Kane Wommack was one of the silver linings of the team. If Bama could hire someone better for the OC and the play calling, then DeBoer will finally get his shot at creating the offense that suits him.