The Alabama Crimson Tide exited the College Football Playoff unceremoniously after getting boat raced 38-3 by Indiana at the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day. Many believed Alabama had woken up its traditional postseason-juggernaut self after erasing a 17-point deficit against Oklahoma in the first round.
Ultimately, that victory appears to have been more of a Sooners collapse than an epic Tide comeback.
Aside from the on-field product in Norman, there were additional headlines surrounding Alabama. Head coach Kalen DeBoer was the top target in Michigan's coaching search at the time and the Tide's first round fate would heavily factor into whether he would potentially take the Wolverines' call or stay in Tuscaloosa.
Alabama won and Michigan moved on to Utah's Kyle Whittingham, leaving DeBoer to continue captaining the Tide but with renewed championship pressure and expectations. All that the team's Rose Bowl performance did for DeBoer was tighten his leash heading into next season.
Kalen DeBoer is in a worse position at Alabama than he would've been at Michigan
Alabama fans were already disappointed DeBoer could've let their team fall to three losses during the regular season. The Tide was lucky to get included in the CFP to begin with and despite a surprising win in the first round, it's always championship or bust in Tuscaloosa.
Some of it isn't DeBoer's fault, however, No coach wants to be the guy after the guy - in this case, following up Nick Saban's legacy. He had impossible shoes to fill and after two seasons, going 20-8 isn't the high mark it usually is elsewhere.
The 2025 campaign saw Alabama stumble early against an unranked Florida State program. If something similar happens again in 2026, I wouldn't be surprised to see DeBoer get yanked. Alabama's administration wasn't exactly eager to snuff out any rumors of his potential departure with Michigan sniffing around.
The powers that be in Tuscaloosa may just be looking for an excuse to cut DeBoer loose next season, so he's maybe quite literally in a championship or bust situation. Even reclaiming the SEC crown may not be enough if it's not followed up with a national title.
Alabama hasn't won a national championship since the 2020 season. That five-season gap is the longest in program history since it went trophyless from 1993-2008 (16 seasons). In fact, the school hasn't given a head coach more than four years to try and bring back a title before moving on. Gene Stallings (7-seasons, 1990-96) was the longest-tenured coach since the legendary Bear Bryant before Saban eventually came around.
Patience could be even thinner for DeBoer considering the program has gotten so used to being a perennial contender and actually following through on those preseason championship predictions for so long.