Alabama Superfan Vows to Handle $70M Kalen DeBoer Burden as Nick Saban’s Words Fall on Deaf Ears

Kalen DeBoer’s start to the 2025 season couldn’t have gone any worse. After analysts picked Bama to make it deep in the playoffs, the hope was that the Week 1 matchup against FSU would go without any hiccups. The Seminoles came to play, and the Tide was handed a 17-31 loss. It took no time for fans to rally, ‘Fire DeBoer.’ The outcry for his sacking won’t stop until Alabama returns to winning ways. For now, it’s a one-way street to the extent that people who are looking to win lotteries are adding pressure on the head coach.

The Powerball jackpot has increased to $1.8 billion. The draw is to be made on Saturday night. As per Powerball, this would be the second-largest winning amount in the history of the US lottery. The biggest? $2.04 billion in November 2022. Naturally, the question is: what would you do if you won the lottery? Susie from Alabama has a priority list, and it starts with the head coach of the Crimson Tide.

“I tell you exactly what I do with the first seventy million. I’d pay off Kalen DeBoer and get him the he-k out of the University of Alabama, and then I’d take whatever else it took to get rid of the AD,” a frustrated Susie from Guntersville told 19 WHNT News, at a gas station, outside the Alabama/Tennessee border. For context, Kalen DeBoer’s buyout amounts to a hefty $70 million. It’s no secret that Bama is struggling financially to pay NIL to its student-athletes. Although a fun take, apparently, Susie’s suggestion is enough to realize the rolling wave of frustration that the Bama fans are harboring against him.

She continued, “I give my church money. I don’t know how much of what I’d have, you know, after paid my taxes, but I’m sure I’d have plenty. With this kind of deal, but I know I’m not going to win. I just hope I win some scratch-offs. I just do it for the fun.” But DeBoer’s $70 million buyout remains unlikely, and there’s a reason.

If DeBoer had to depart, the program would roughly owe him $69 million to terminate his contract. Let’s say, even if they do ($77 million, without cause), the head coach would get 90% of the remaining base salary. Paul Finebaum has further stated that this is unlikely. “This isn’t a simple situation,” Finebaum said. “The reason I say that is DeBoer, like him or not, has a price tag on his head that makes him virtually impossible to fire. There’s a $70 million buyout. You can’t just make a rash decision.”

Undoubtedly, the criticism is at its peak. For Tuscaloosa, it wasn’t just a reaction to the FSU episode, but rather a boiling point of all the frustration simmering over the last 11 months. Losses to Vanderbilt, Oklahoma, and Tennessee left a bitter feeling, and the FSU episode was the breaking point. But Nick Saban’s daughter, Kristen, has come to the support of DeBoer and his coaching staff. “Don’t forget there’s a family behind all of those players and coaches/staff,” she posted on her Instagram story.

And Mike Norvell? Never been prouder of his squad. His pre-game speech is doing rounds on the internet, and mind you, enough to give goosebumps and get that adrenaline pumping. The roll cry of “Calm and Confident“, a fiery Norvell, confident of his roster, echoed throughout the locker room, with the Seminoles’ eyes fixated on their head coach. On the other hand, Thomas Castellanos is having a blast. The off-season saw a “They don’t have Nick Saban to save them” jibe. Now? It has only gotten more salty. Following the matchup, he has started to sell ‘Nick can’t save them’ t-shirts and hoodies, with 31-17 written underneath the huge text, on his website. All these reactions have got the Bama fans riled up, and if DeBoer does not win back those winning streaks, Tuscaloosa has got him on the hot seat.

Meanwhile all the frenzy and chaos, Nick Saban has broken his silence. His reaction? “Didn’t do it right”.

Nick Saban gets candid on Kalen DeBoer’s blunder

Nick Saban has crucial advice for Kalen DeBoer and staff. The stinging defeat to be a lesson on what went wrong. Florida State was considered a cake-walk for them, rolling off in a smooth victory, but the Seminoles hit back, bringing the sledgehammer hard. “Basically, when you have a negative consequence, and you don’t teach and do a good job of identifying what do we need to fix so the players have something that they can relate to,” Saban said on the Pat McAfee Show.

“If you don’t teach it really creates, affects morale in a negative way,” he added. They need to be prepared for the challenging games scheduled against Georgia, Tennessee, and the LSU Tigers. But then, again, the roster is plagued with injuries. Star wide receiver Ryan Williams, who suffered a concussion, is still out. LB Jah-Marien Latham’s status has not been revealed yet; meanwhile, RB Jam Miller (collarbone), DL Tim Keenan (ankle), and DL Jeremiah Beaman (knee) won’t be on the turf. WR Isaiai Horton is expected to “be at a pretty high level“. Yes, Jaedon Roberts, who didn’t participate in week 1, due to concussion protocol, will be back.

Saban continued. “So, I think you got to be positive and show the players when they did it right, here’s the success we had. When we didn’t do it right, whether it was even one player, didn’t do it right, maybe that’s why they had success.” He further stressed that, given Alabama’s history as a powerhouse, consecutively churning out playoff wins and nattys, the expectation is high.