Kristen Saban Asks for Constant Nick Saban, Kalen DeBoer Comparisons to End

The college football world has compared Kalen DeBoer's every move to Nick Saban during his tenure, and Saban's daughter wants fans and media to let DeBoer coach.

Dec 19, 2025; Norman, OK, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Kalen Deboer calls out from the sidelines in the first half against the Oklahoma Sooners at Gaylord Family OK Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Kalen DeBoer is entering his third season as Alabama's head football coach, and yet he's still constantly being asked the same questions surrounding the topic about how he's going to fill Nick Saban’s shoes and continue the standard.

DeBoer has been compared to former Alabama head coach Nick Saban with practically every move he's made during his tenure. Saban won six national championships with the Crimson Tide, and the college football world assumed that DeBoer would just pick up right where Saban left off. But even Saban took a couple of years to turn Alabama into a dynasty, with the first national title coming in his third season.

Saban was recently on The Pat McAfee Show, and the renowned host asked him about DeBoer and Alabama's offseason. The podcast posted the clip on Instagram, and Kristen Saban, Nick's daughter, left a comment pleading for the media to stop comparing the two coaches. Here's her full message...

"I have an idea…

"Let’s stop asking Coach DeBoer how he’s going to 'fill Saban’s shoes' and start letting him do the job he was hired to do.

"No one is going to be Nick Saban. There will never be another Nick Saban, and that’s okay. Coach DeBoer doesn’t need to be a copy of the greatest coach in college football history—he needs the opportunity and support to build his own legacy.

"The constant comparisons and 'how are you going to meet Coach Saban’s standard?' questions are getting old. They’ve been asked over and over. It’s time to leave that narrative in the past.

"He’s been working tirelessly for this program. Let him coach. Let him recruit. Let him build.

"I’m just as passionate about Alabama football as anyone, and I understand the expectations that come with wearing the script A. But great programs aren’t built overnight, and constant public comparisons don’t help anyone.

"Have some patience. Support the team. Roll Tide."

This is the first year of the nine-game conference schedule in the Southeastern Conference, which means it will be even more difficult for every SEC team. It will also be even harder for any team to finish with an unblemished conference record.

Alabama was picked to finish third last season and ended up in a tie for first place, earning a berth in the 2025 SEC Championship game before losing to Georgia. The media has only correctly picked the SEC champion during the preseason 10 times in the last 33 years (dating back to the start of the SEC Championship Game in 1992).

Here's who the media picked ahead of and behind the Crimson Tide, as DeBoer prepares for his third season.

SEC Champion Poll

1. Georgia (88 votes)
2. Texas (57)
3. Ole Miss (6)
4. Texas A&M (5)
5. Alabama (3)
6. Oklahoma (2)
7. LSU (2)
8. Kentucky (1)

SEC Predicted Order of Finish

1. Georgia
2. Texas
3. Ole Miss
4. Texas A&M
5. LSU
6. Alabama
7. Oklahoma
8. Tennessee
9. Florida
10. Missouri
11. South Carolina
12. Auburn
13. Vanderbilt
14. Kentucky
15. Mississippi State

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