If we keep Deion Sanders aside, Kalen DeBoer could easily be the second most questioned coach in college football. When DeBoer’s team managed to secure the 5th rank on the AP preseason poll, Paul Finebaum was the first to come out and call the team “overrated”. Finebaum went as far as to mark the Tides as only a “playoff team”. This is wild because if we check the stats, the Tides are a strong force. They got QB Jalen Milroe in the lead and the team currently has the best offensive line in the country.

However, there’s always gonna be some problem creeping up to make things bad for you. We got the news on August 18th that DeBoer just lost one of his commits to Tennessee. Hayes Fawcett took to X to post, “Four-Star LB Jaedon Harmon has Flipped his Commitment from Alabama to Tennessee”. This brings a sudden halt to DeBoer’s recruitment train. Harmon is marked as the No. 18 LB in the entire class of 2025 by 247Sports. “I want to thank the entire Alabama staff for believing in me,” Harmon posted on X after the announcement went live. On the other end, this is a massive win for the Vols. The kid has already racked up around 80 tackles and 3 pass breaks along with 5 sacks in his junior year itself. This takes the Vols 2025 recruiting class to become the No.6 best nationally.

This news also comes hours after OT David Sanders Jr. pledged to the Vols. This kid has already achieved a ranking as the No.3 player nationally and also as the No.1 best offensive tackle in the entire 2025 class. While Tides fans might be heartbroken after this, remember the fact that Nick Saban himself has immense faith in what DeBoer is capable of doing with the team. Tony Tsoukalas mentioned back on July 17th, “Saban believes several other players will be sorry they left Alabama.” Not only that, if you haven’t forgotten, DeBoer has already secured a solid player last month through his amazing recruitment.

The 5-star wide receiver

Marked as the No.2 WR on the national level while also being the No.13 overall player on the national level. That’s Caleb Cunningham for you. The kid has recorded around 120+ catches in his career. Not only that, he already has around 2000+ yards and 30 TDs under his belt. The Vols also wanted Caleb, however, he decided to go with Alabama. DeBoer managed to pull in a massive weapon for the team.

While he might have lost Harmon, we all know for a fact that DeBoer is going to recover from it quickly. We might even see a new recruit jumping into the Tide. Till then, we gotta wait to see what magic DeBoer manages to do with Milroe beside him this season.