Kalen DeBoer is all set to mark his era with the Crimson Tide. The new Bama HC has already won two games and silenced those who questioned if he could fill Saban’s mighty shoes.

In fact, he’s the only one among the recent new hires to achieve this! Despite a shaky performance against South Florida last week, it’s clear he’s on the right path, especially as other new coaches are still finding their footing.

Nick Saban’s retirement in early January opened the door for DeBoer but also set off a chain reaction across college football. Around nine programs had to scramble to hire new head coaches, with five directly impacted by Saban’s departure. Well, Alabama, being a decorated program with 9 SEC titles, quickly brought in Kalen DeBoer. This created an opening at his previous team, Washington, which was filled by Jedd Fisch. Eventually, Fisch’s move from Arizona led them to hire Brent Brennan from San Jose State, and so the dominoes continued to fall across teams like UCLA, Georgia Southern, and even the University at Buffalo.

So far, DeBoer is the only new hire among them making a strong start this season. As CFB expert Douglas Farmer notes, “Those nine teams are 2-9 against the spread against FBS teams.” Even the reigning champions, the Michigan Wolverines, are facing this challenge. Though not part of the Saban-triggered chain, they’re struggling to fill the gap left by their former coach, Jim Harbaugh. 

Sure, they internally promoted Moore from within, but he couldn’t beat Texas last week. While Michigan’s record is 1-1, DeBoer’s new team is off to a hot 2-0 start. But the USF game showed even DeBoer’s team can be fragile, too.

USF stuns Kalen DeBoer

Kalen DeBoer made a strong start with a dominant 63-0 win over Western Kentucky in Week 1. It was an A-class performance, with his team scoring 29 points in just the first two quarters. Even their quarterback, Jalen Milroe, shined, throwing for over 200 yards and making 3 touchdowns. However, that same high level didn’t carry over to Week 2 against South Florida. The team struggled in the first half, ending with a close 21-16 score.

Maybe the team was still pumped up from the big pre-game ceremony where they honored their old coach, Nick Saban, by naming the field after him. After that event, the Crimson Tide faced some rough patches, with turnovers and penalties hurting their game. DeBoer acknowledged the challenges, saying, “It’s hard to call a game” and added, “This isn’t a wakeup call or anything like that. It’s just keep raising the standard.”

Well, they managed to turn things around in the final quarter, scoring 3 late touchdowns. One key move was putting Elijah Pritchett at right tackle in the fourth quarter, who replaced the injured tackle Kadyn Proctor. It seems DeBoer is still figuring out how to handle such surprises that come with coaching Saban’s old team.