Wild Prediction Has Major SEC Coach Losing Job in 2026 College Football Season

The standards are always sky-high at Alabama after the unprecedented run presided over by Nick Saban, and now his successor faces massive pressure.

Kalen DeBoer has won 20 games over his first two seasons, with a mixture of highs and lows, but he’s also lost eight games, including an ugly College Football Playoff exit at the hands of Indiana in which his offense failed to score a touchdown.

Now, entering the third full season of the DeBoer experience, the Crimson Tide face a mandate to take a giant leap forward and not only return to the playoff, but make considerable distance once they get into the field.

Or else?

That’s the question that, while it’s not quite being openly asked by anyone important at Alabama just yet, is still known to be entertained by a sizable-enough cross-section of one of college football’s most discerning fan bases.

“Alabama fans are not happy. They’re not happy. They’re a fanbase, I don’t know if you can ever make them happy,” On3 Sports analyst Blain Crain said when outlining one of his craziest predictions for the 2026 season.

Is he a proper fit?

Wild Prediction Has Major SEC Coach Losing Job in 2026 College Football Season — IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Physicality has been a general concern among Crimson Tide fans, a criticism that grew to a fever pitch when DeBoer’s team was outphysicaled in the trenches in a loss at Florida State to open last season.

“[Alabama fans] want to physically dominate and beat people on the line of scrimmage. And it just feels like Kalen DeBoer’s not that fit,” Crain said.

That’s a narrative that preceded the coach and has followed him since taking over, as fans generally see a strategy that favors spread concepts and high-volume passing over imposing the team’s physical will over opponents.

Case in point: Alabama’s rushing attack was one of college football’s very worst a year ago, ranking 125th in FBS by averaging 104 yards per game and 3.4 yards per attempt.

What will it take for Alabama to fire DeBoer? According to this entirely academic preseason speculation, he would have to go 8-4 for the school to even consider it.

But not all 8-4 records are created equally. Losses to the likes of Auburn and Georgia and LSU? Those just might be enough for Bama to pull the plug.

Then, there’s the economics of it.

How much would firing DeBoer cost?

DeBoer’s updated deal with Alabama, which the two sides agreed to this spring and pays him $12.5 million annually, gives him some notable job security, unless the school does decide to make a move.

If they do, they’ll have to hand over some serious money.

The absolute apocalypse scenario? That would cost Alabama in the neighborhood of $67.5 million in a buyout if he gets fired in November, to be paid out over the life of the contract. That is, through Jan. 31, 2033.

The race is on for DeBoer and his new-look third Alabama team to ward off those calculations and that talk and just get the job done.

(On3)

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