Filling the shoes of a legendary figure like Nick Saban is a daunting task, and many believe that the challenge has been taking its toll on current Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer. He has been widely criticized following the Crimson Tide’s opening game loss to the Florida State Seminoles, with many questioning his future as head coach for Alabama.
Among those who believe that DeBoer may possibly leave Alabama should the season not go well is ESPN’s Pete Thamel.
During Monday episode of the “College GameDay” podcast, Thamel noted that it has been difficult living up to the standards Nick Saban had set at Alabama and is now on the “hot seat.” He believes DeBoer may make a decision about his future with the team by the time the Crimson Tide takes on LSU.
“Look, like, Nick Saban built that thing to an impossible level of emotionless dominance, right. It was just this assembly line of five-stars,” he said. “Living up to that was always going to be, you know, difficult.”
“I think – I’ll say this. By the time they play LSU? They have a bye after South Carolina on Oct. 25. By the time they play LSU on Nov. 8, I think we’ll know,” Thamel noted. “Like, there’s some signs now, you know, where this thing is going.”
As the ESPN analyst said, Alabama will be facing LSU on Nov. 8 and this might be the window where he would make his decision whether he would stay with the Crimson Tide. Of course, this loss to FSU is still Alabama’s opener, which means that Kalen DeBoer still has plenty of time to change his mind.
Analyst Believes Alabama Unlikely to Fire Kalen DeBoer
As for whether Alabama would fire Kalen DeBoer should the Crimson Tide lose even more games this season, Pete Thamel believes that this is highly unlikely, and the main reason is his salary, which is worth around $63 million. The analyst explained that the school just cannot fire him after just two seasons of leading the team.
“It’s $63 million, somewhere in that neighborhood, to fire him, so that would be the second-biggest buyout,” he pointed out.
Thamel added that should Alabama slide down this season, the only way the school could get rid of the coach was if he were to quit himself. He also noted that another problem that Alabama might get is finding a replacement for DeBoer.
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