For the first time in over 17 years, the great Nick Saban will not be in the stands when the Alabama Crimson Tide take on Western Kentucky in the 2024 college football season. Although it still does not seem real, seeing new head coach Kalen DeBoer in the dugout could be a welcome change of pace. Saban is retiring.
It was always going to be very tough to lose Saban, but athletic director Greg Byrne moved fast and hired DeBoer, who is a fantastic head coach.
DeBoer was 25-3 in his two seasons with the Washington Huskies, winning the PAC-12 and making an appearance in the national championship game. Between NAIA and D1 football, DeBoer has posted an outstanding career record of 104-12. It was just a matter of time before other programs started calling on DeBoer, so while Saban’s retirement wasn’t a great thing, the timing definitely could have been worse. DeBoer has also shown he can beat the best coaches in the country, as he has a combined 5-0 record against Dan Lanning and Steve Sarkisian.
DeBoer is ranked by ESPN as the second-best coach in America going into the 2024 season, behind only Kirby Smart of the Georgia Bulldogs.
Even in the final years of Saban’s leadership over the Alabama program, Smart had started to close the gap. Although Smart is currently without a doubt the best head coach in the conference, DeBoer might catch up to him soon. However, there is also a chance that DeBoer’s rankings could drop as a result of some mistakes.
There is a lot of uncertainty surrounding the 2024 Alabama team because of a new-look coaching staff and a roster that lost many of the playmakers from the previous season. Although some might view this negatively, there is a good chance the Tide can take advantage of this. When playing formidable opponents in the near future, the squad can benefit from a certain amount of unpredictability.
The matchup between DeBoer and Smart will not be delayed for fans, as on September 28, 2024, Georgia will travel to Tuscaloosa to play Alabama in a regular-season game.
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