From bust to boom: How Kalen DeBoer turned it around at Alabama

Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer, center, walks off of the field after a game against Georgia on Sept. 27, 2025, in Athens, Ga. (Colin Hubbard / AP)

By KENNINGTON LLOYD SMITH III The Associated Press

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama’s seven-game winning streak has revealed a new side of coach Kalen DeBoer.

And it could set the tone for the fourth-ranked Crimson Tide as they move closer to securing spots in the Southeastern Conference championship game and the College Football Playoff.

Alabama (7-1, 5-0 SEC), which has won every game since a stunning loss at Florida State to open the season, is off this week before beginning a three-game homestand that includes LSU and No. 18 Oklahoma.

DeBoer, who led Washington to the national title game in 2023 in his second and final season in Seattle, is sure to be fired up before each of the games. He certainly was for Alabama’s last home game, a 37-20 win against rival Tennessee.

With AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” blaring inside Bryant-Denny Stadium, DeBoer led players toward the field before the opening kick. His energy steadily increased as they made their way through the hallways and out of the tunnel.

DeBoer clapped his hands every so often, yelling “Let’s go!” His energy culminated with him slapping the goalpost as the team reached the field.

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“That’s definitely a new side of coach DeBoer, and it’s good,” receiver Germie Bernard said “We need for him to be fired up because, as players, we learn from the leader. He’s the leader, and so he has to lead by example, and he’s been doing a great job of that.”

DeBoer attributed the moment to feeding off of the players’ pregame energy. The clip provided a peek into the growing confidence inside the Alabama program, one that seemed to be missing during the ups and downs of DeBoer’s first year in Tuscaloosa.

“If you haven’t seen that emotion from the outside, now you have,” linebacker Deontae Lawson said. “That’s the coach DeBoer that we’re getting used to. He’s definitely evolving.”

Alabama’s rise and DeBoer’s swagger began after that Week 1 debacle in Tallahassee. The Crimson Tide players began holding players-only meetings every Friday. DeBoer arrives at the end of each one to deliver a message. Now, several weeks later, it’s considered the turning point to the season.

“He came in and said what he needed to say,” Lawson recalled. “He said some things, and the guys just got really very excited. That was the first little taste of it.”

The sense of urgency has been palpable.

Florida State’s four-game losing skid has made the opener a “bad loss” for Alabama, creating a back-against-the-wall mentality. There’s also a new level of comfort between DeBoer, his staff and his players.

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“I’ve been able to just really tap into just the guys as a whole,” DeBoer said. “But also really individually and be able to know what makes one guy tick versus another. You talk to the whole team, certainly, but you also have to have that relationship and that understanding of what makes guys go. So I think our coaching staff gets that, and we communicate very well.”

Alabama’s current resume is one of the strongest in college football, complete with four wins against ranked opponents. And the Tide ended an unsettling trend with last week’s come-from-behind, 29-22 victory at South Carolina.

Alabama won as a double-digit road favorite, a position that didn’t bode well for a program that lost to FSU in Week 1 and to Vanderbilt, Oklahoma and Michigan last year in similar positions.

“I challenged the guys, and they believe it: That the world has not seen Bama’s best yet,” DeBoer said. “That’s really what we’re striving to do. When you keep it really as simple as possible on that, have great preparation, everyone caring about what we’re trying to accomplish, you have that edge.”

KENNINGTON LLOYD SMITH III