Greg McElroy believes Kalen DeBoer 2024 Alabama hype; is he right?

Mat Raney

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Greg McElroy believes Kalen DeBoer 2024 Alabama hype; is he right? image

The bar for incoming head coach and Pac-12 implosion escapee Kalen Deboer may be getting so high in his first year with the Alabama Crimson Tide that he may be wondering if it might just look cooler to limbo under it while doing his best Harry Belefonte impression than bother trying to go over it at all. 

He now has sports commentator and former Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Greg McElroy to thank for inching that bar up even further. 

Fortunately for DeBoer, McElroy digs into Alabama football history to reveal that the previous eight head coaches (shockingly all there have been in the modern football era) didn’t exactly rocket off the launch pad to start their careers with the Crimson Tide. 

Ultimate football legend and winner of the Last Coach to Wear a Plaid Hat with Dignity Award, Bear Bryant, went 5-4-1. Son of the winningest NFL coach in history, Don Shula, Mike Shula went 4-9. And the GOAT, Nick Saban, only went 7-6 in his first at bat with the team. For modern times, the first-year head coach with the best record at Alabama was Ray Perkins (yeah, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers guy) who went 8-4 in 1983. 

So perhaps Kalen DeBoer doesn’t need to start limbering up for that back bend just yet. As long as Alabama comes in just under its projected win total of 9.5, DeBoer will have matched the most wins for a first-year head coach in Crimson Tide’s history books, matching the 9-1 record of Frank Thomas in the talkies days of 1931. (Do you like all of the references perfect for your grandfather and great grandfather?)

But will DeBoer make history with 10 wins, the mark most likely needed to have a shot at the expanded College Football Playoff? What games on the Tide's schedule could get in DeBoer's way?

An early-season monster matchup against quarterback Carson Beck and consensus No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs is an obvious choice, but Alabama plays four other teams ranked in Sporting News’ Composite Poll Top-25: the No. 14 Tennessee Volunteers, No. 16 Oklahoma Sooners, No. 13 LSU Tigers, and fellow top-10 College Football Playoff contender No. 8 Missouri Tigers. 

Alabama is the visiting team for both the Tennessee game, where they’ll face much-hyped QB Nico Iamaleava, and at Tiger Stadium against LSU, which is always a brutal place to play. And let’s not forget the season will end with the Iron Bowl, where anything can happen against the Auburn Tigers. The Kick Six anyone? The fourth-and-31 miracle?

Assuming the Tide can split those previous four games, DeBoer should have the nine wins secured to tie the record with Auburn rolling into Tuscaloosa. How crazy would it be have to win against their hated in-state rivals for a spot in the College Football Playoff?

In spite of the challenges, based on what we think Alabama could do with the three keys to win the whole dang thing, Deboer should get the job done and not only notch at least nine wins in his first season as head coach, but also lead the Tide into the playoffs.

For DeBoer and Bama fans, they'd happily take that scenario. The Alabama head coach making history in the process would be icing on the cake. 

Mat Raney

Mat Raney Photo

Mat Raney is the author of four books and is a writer, director, and producer of audio, film, and television in Los Angeles. But don’t hold that against him. He’s also a lifelong SEC football and basketball fan and graduated from the University of Kentucky in 2000.