The University of Alabama football program hasn’t looked the same since coach Nick Saban’s retirement.
It raises speculation about the future of his replacement, Kalen DeBoer.
The eighth-ranked Crimson Tide have dropped three of their past four games dating to last season a 31-17 loss at Florida State on Saturday in the 2025 schedule opener for both teams, a game in which the Seminoles bullied Alabama on both sides of the ball. The Tide are now 2-5 away from home during DeBoer’s 14-game tenure — with four of those losses coming as a double-digit favorite.
“Not going to live in regret,” said DeBoer, who was hired by Alabama after leading Washington a national runner-up finish. “We’ve got to go fix it and be better because of it and evaluate the film and move on.”
Florida State quarterback Tommy Castellanos, a Boston College transfer, said this summer that Saban — who won six national titles in his 17 seasons in Tuscaloosa — wasn’t around “to save Alabama,” and he didn’t see the Tide stopping the Seminoles. After the Seminoles racked up 230 rushing yards, Castellanos and Florida State clearly backed up his bold statement.
Coupled with managing just 87 yards on the ground Saturday in Tallahassee, there were plenty of questions about Alabama’s seemingly downward spiral.
Last October’s loss at Vanderbilt — on the opposite end of the spectrum from Alabama when it comes to traditional Southeastern Conference success — was shocking enough, but then the Tide played even worse later in the season during losses to two more unranked opponents: Oklahoma and Michigan, the latter in a bowl game outside of the College Football Playoff. The latest setback came at the hands of a revamped Florida State squad that had dropped 11 of its previous 13 games since winning the 2023 Atlantic Coast Conference title.
Now the Tide look like they need a rebuild, having gone 5-5 since beating Georgia 11 months ago.
Simply put, Alabama looks like it suddenly has a small margin for error. The Tide host Louisiana-Monroe and Wisconsin before an open date that will be followed by a road trip to Georgia — which rolled in its opener Saturday for its 32nd second home win in a row — to open the SEC slate on Sept. 27.
Does the season-opening loss put pressure on Alabama players?
“Feel the pressure is not necessarily the way I would put it,” Alabama center and team captain Parker Brailsford said. “I would say the urgency to go out and do the right things, but I already felt that.”
The matchup against Florida State, which was coming off a 2-10 season, appeared to favor Alabama. The Tide feature experienced linemen on both sides of the ball and were 13 1/2-point favorites.
Florida State was the aggressor, though, and Alabama ended up playing from behind again. DeBoer said going into the game that jumping out to a good start was crucial for road success. After a game-opening, 16-play, 75-yard touchdown drive, Alabama failed to get into the end zone until the fourth quarter.
The Tide were stopped three times on fourth down, each of them in the Seminoles’ territory. On a fourth drive, new starting quarterback Ty Simpson was sacked on third down that forced Alabama’s Conor Talty to attempt a 53-yard field goal that came up short.
“That’s the thing that is frustrating,” DeBoer said.
On defense, Alabama allowed Florida State to pick up an average of 4.7 yards a carry. The Tide also gave up big plays, from Jaylin Lucas’ 64-yard catch to Squirrel White’s 40-yard reception and Micahi Danzy’s 32-yard touchdown run.
While Florida State’s skill was impressive, Alabama’s tackling was poor, too.
“They did a nice job going sideline to sideline, a lot of things with those fly sweeps that we worked on, prepared for,” DeBoer said. “You get one on one, you get in space, and you’ve got a find a way to get them on the ground.”
If there’s optimism for Alabama, it’s the same story for programs like No. 1 Texas and No. 4 Clemson that are dealing with season-opening losses. One loss, especially on the road, does little to knock a team out of contention for the College Football Playoff with a 12-team field.
It certainly raises questions, though.
“We’re behind the eight-ball,” Brailsford said. “We’ve got to go 1-0 and strive to be our best day in and day out.”