124-Win Head Coach Flirting With Hot Seat Ahead of College Football Season

Chaos reigned supreme in the 2025-2026 college football coaching carousel. The turnover lasted from September to December of 2025, featuring no less than 15 different head coaching changes across Power Four conferences.

The 2026-2027 coaching carousel should not feature as much movement as a result of the last carousel, but several Power Four programs are approaching tipping points with their current head coaches. One fan base that is growing unhappy with its head coach is Alabama with Kalen DeBoer.

Prior to his arrival in Tuscaloosa, DeBoer won at every program he became the head coach of. From 2005 to 2009, DeBoer led Sioux Falls to a 67-3 overall record and won three NAIA national championships.

After a decade of working his way up the Division I ranks as an offensive coordinator, he tried his hand as a head coach at Fresno State. He led the Bulldogs to a 12-6 overall record between 2020 and 2021, a mark that enticed Washington to hire him away in the 2022 offseason.

The Huskies were 25-3 in his two seasons on the job, a run that featured a College Football Playoff National Championship appearance in the latter of the two seasons.

Kalen DeBoer during the 2024 College Football Playoff National Championship game. — Washington Huskies head coach Kalen DeBoer against the Michigan Wolverines during the 2024 College Football Playoff national championship game at NRG Stadium. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

When Nick Saban announced his retirement from college football coaching in the 2024 offseason, Alabama hired DeBoer as his successor. The 9-4 mark in DeBoer's first season was not popular with a fan base that expected annual national championships over the prior 15 years, but the mark featured the most wins by a first-year Alabama coach since Frank Thomas in 1931.

The Crimson Tide improved to 11-4 in 2025, making its first SEC Championship and College Football Playoff appearances since 2023. Alabama won at Oklahoma (34-24) in the opening round of the College Football Playoff, but a blowout loss to Indiana (38-3) in the Rose Bowl brought its season to an end.

Additionally, concerns about the play of Alabama's offensive line and run game have sparked questions about the trajectory of the program under DeBoer.

ESPN's college football reporters compiled a list of things they are excited to see in the 2026 college football season. Harry Lyles Jr. said the game he is most excited to see is Florida State at Alabama on Sept. 19.

"This pick is based partially on seeing how Alabama responds after losing this matchup last year and partially on the potential fallout from this result. A loss for either the Seminoles or the Crimson Tide will put their coach firmly on the hot seat, assuming both teams enter this game 2-0," Lyles said.

"I think both Alabama's Kalen DeBoer and FSU's Mike Norvell are really good coaches, but knowing college football fans, the heat will be on for the loser of this one and the margin for error will become pretty much zero."

Florida State is in a much less comfortable state with Norvell running its program than Alabama is with DeBoer. Norvell is entering his seventh season of a tenure where he has posted four losing seasons, including the fall from a 13-1, ACC championship-winning season in 2023 to a 2-10 mark in 2024.

Kalen DeBoer following the 2026 Rose Bowl. — Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Kalen Deboer leaves the field after the 2026 Rose Bowl | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images