It goes without saying, but the pressure is on for Kalen DeBoer ahead of the 2025 season for Alabama football. Expectations are always going to be high in Tuscaloosa and missing the College Football Playoff will never be tolerated.
In DeBoer's eyes, though, Bama got snubbed last winter. There are certainly a lot of people who would disagree with that. Unfortunately for DeBoer, people are racing to call him out online over some more than questionable comments he just dropped:
Kalen DeBoer is getting ripped for his latest College Football Playoff take
With the expanded CFP field, there was hope that Alabama would be able to easily be among the last 12 teams to compete for a natty. Instead, the Tide went 9-3 during the regular season, suffering losses to Vanderbilt, Tennessee and Oklahoma.
The Tennessee football win over Alabama was one that Vols fans are going to cherish for quite some time. It looked like Alabama was going to make things interesting late, but a Will Brooks interception off of Jalen Milroe helped seal the deal.
Had Alabama only lost two games, then sure, we could talk about them deserving more CFP love. However, you can't lose three games and then expect the committee to take things easy on you. The 24-3 loss to the Sooners in the second to last game of the year was unacceptable.
Things were only made worse for the Tide and DeBoer with the loss to Michigan during bowl season. That loss had even more people calling for DeBoer to be one and done with the Tide. Things of course aren't that way for the Vols with Josh Heupel, as he's a rockstar in Knoxville.
There's strong belief that if Alabama posts another rough season, then DeBoer could be on his way out of town. It's College Football Playoff or bust for DeBoer and there will be no excuses for him in '25. He knows the pressure is on - quotes like these also won't help get people off his back.