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Following a 9-4 finish in Kalen DeBoer’s first season, expectations were high for the Alabama Crimson Tide in Year 2. But their 2025 college football season has started on a rough note.
Alabama entered the season ranked No. 8, opening on the road against the Florida State Seminoles. The Crimson Tide struggled from the opening whistle, falling 31-14 to an unranked team and never finding a rhythm on the road.
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It took just one game for DeBoer’s coaching seat to get scorching hot. With questions about his future already surfacing, ESPN’s Paul Finebaum weighed in on the current state of the situation.
“It was a shattering loss for Kalen DeBoer,” Finebaum said on SportsCenter. “He had built up tremendous goodwill in the offseason. People believed in him after failing to believe in him at the end of last season, but there’s no escaping it. You started hearing words last night like, ‘Hot seat,’ ‘Buy out,’ which, by the way, is $70 million.”
Photo by Butch Dill/Getty Images
Additionally, Finebaum paints a gloomy picture for DeBoer and Alabama if they want to qualify for the College Football Playoff.
“It was get to the playoff or bust,” Finebaum added. “Right now, he lost a golden opportunity because he has about seven or eight tougher games than he had [on Saturday]. His path very narrow, and his hot seat is very scorching.”
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Losing to unranked Florida State puts the Crimson Tide in a tough spot heading into September. DeBoer’s team will face the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks and Wisconsin Badgers before their key SEC matchup with the Georgia Bulldogs on September 27.
DeBoer and his team have to win out in September to get the Crimson Tide fan base back on his side and buying into what he’s building. If they lose to Georgia or even worse to either Louisiana-Monroe or Wisconsin, the situation could unravel quickly for the Alabama coach if it hasn’t already.
For more on college football, head to Newsweek Sports.
