Kalen DeBoer and the Alabama Crimson Tide had the worst start to the season of any ranked team in the country in week one following their 17-31, loss to Florida State on Saturday in Tallahassee.
Expectations were sky-high for the Crimson Tide entering the season as a top ten team in the nation, but Saturday's defeat to the Seminoles as 14-point favorites was a shocking and potentially costly setback for DeBoer and his staff.
Florida State senior quarterback Tommy Castellanos gave bulletin board material but it lived up to the hype,
This offseason, Castellanos said in an interview that, "Nick Saban can't save [Alabama]" in Week 1.
“People, I don't know if they know, but you go back and watch every first game that I played in, we always start fast,” Castellanos said. “I dreamed of moments like this. I dreamed of playing against Alabama. They don't have Nick Saban to save them. I just don't see them stopping me.
Will DeBoer actually get fired after just 24 months or less in Tuscaloosa? Although he's off to a rocky start it's way to early to tell. DeBoer before arriving at Alabama was 104-12 including his time at Sioux Falls, Fresno State and Washington. Almost half his losses as a head coach have been at Alabama (5), in only 14 games which is alarming.
Kalen DeBoer's buyout is just shy of $70 million at Alabama after signing an eight-year, $87 million deal with the Crimson Tide to take over the program following Saban's retirement. It's listed at$69.3 million if he's fired after this season and would only drop to $60.075 million
DeBoer’s $70 million buyout alone makes it highly unlikely the Crimson Tide are anywhere near the point of letting DeBoer go but talking heads have already started to put list together replacing DeBoer and honestly this is not likely to happen this year but let's say what if, what if Bama finishes with 6 or 7 wins total or Alabama fans and boosters just get fed up.
The names up for the Alabama job will always be Kirby Smart, Steve Sarkisian and Lane Kiffin as they all had major success at Alabama and their respective SEC programs but they are highly unlikely, but Alabama could land another Nick Saban disciple in Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti.
Curt Cignetti was an assistant coach at Alabama from 2007 to 2010, he was the wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator under Nick Saban. Cignetti was an original member of Saban's first staff at Alabama, helping to recruit the nation's No. 1 recruiting class in 2008 and helped guide Alabama to the 2009 BCS National Championship with Greg McElroy, Mark Ingram and Julio Jones.
He previously coached at IUP (53-17), Elon (14-9), and James Madison (52-9) before leading Indiana to an 11-2 record in 2024 and the schools first ever College Football Playoff berth.
In 2024, Cignetti earned awards for the Walter Camp Foundation, the Associated Press, the Eddie Robinson, Sporting News and the Home Depot National Coach of the Year awards.
Fresh off Alabama’s 5th loss under DeBoer, https://t.co/C7Dc54wWaD has posted odds for the Tide’s next head coach. There are 22 candidates and each's respective chances below. pic.twitter.com/1XLPFdmwr5
— Pat Smith (@patsmithradio) September 2, 2025
I'm not sure if Cignetti and Alabama are a perfect fit with all the crap he's talked about the SEC and the fact that he's never coached in the conference but this quote stands out to me: "We don’t just beat top-25 teams, we beat the shit out of them."
Alabama fans would embrace Cignetti but it would be a similar hire to DeBoer, he has success but hasn't done it in the SEC and I don't think that's good enough for them. I think Kalen DeBoer is safe for now but he has to tighten up the program before he loses all faith.