For Alabama fans coming from 6 national titles and 9 SEC championships under Nick Saban in 17 years, to see Kalen DeBoer regress to just 9 wins was a tough adjustment. The Bama legacy was already sealed in stone with Saban exiting the program, and the expectations, as usual, were sky high. So, for any other program, 9 wins in just the first season of a head coach would have been satisfying, not Bama, though. Naturally, going into the 2025 season, the pressure on Kalen DeBoer is as intense as ever. However, the head coach under that mounting pressure has a promise of a freshman prodigy exceeding expectations.

Last year, as Bama under Kalen DeBoer got defeated by Vanderbilt, Finebaum declared, “He [DeBoer] literally is turning Alabama fans off. I’m just saying if you’re looking at Kalen DeBoer as a stock price, before the season, it’s sky high, it shoots. Literally, they had to stop trading on Kalen DeBoer, to go Wall Street on you, at midnight two weeks ago. Now, it’s like on the penny stocks market.” But this year? Alabama, in its 3rd-ranked 2025 class, has racked in three 5-star commits, and one of them is already commanding sophomore Zabien Brown’s place.

With fall camp going on, the QB battles are being decided, and unexpected players are taking a big jump. One of those players is true freshman two-way star Dijon Lee, who, according to Alabama’s WR coach, JaMarcus Shephard, is beating players for fun off the line of scrimmage. “I even said it to him as he was walking in this morning. I said, ‘Dijon, you don’t get rattled. Even in a situation where you maybe felt like you were wronged, you don’t get rattled.’ And that transitions over to when he plays,” said Shephard as he further expanded on how Lee is already having a major impact.

Not just Shephard, Alabama’s DB coach Maurice Linguist is also impressed with the young player, as he touted Lee to be progressing in “a great way.” Moreover, the plays that Lee is making at Alabama’s fall camp are showing his maturity, even as a freshman. “He’s really got a lot of maturity to him,” said Linguist. And about those plays? Dijon Lee charges at players with all his physicality and doesn’t budge even when things may go sideways. “Somebody beats him off the line of scrimmage, or they get on top of him, he doesn’t panic or get rattled,” concluded coach Shephard. As for Lee’s talent, it was always visible from his high school days.

The Mission Viejo, California, graduate, 6’4 and 202 lbs, was selected in MaxPreps All-America second team after he notched 52 tackles and 272 yards playing both ways in 2024. Furthermore, in doing that, he led his high school to a 10-1 season and backed his performances from 2023 when he notched 55 tackles, 13 PBUs, and 2 interceptions. Coming to Alabama, it’s highly unexpected that the player will play both ways. But considering the physicality and ball skills he brings, it may not be a surprise if Kalen DeBoer finally puts his talents to good use. Coming to Kalen DeBoer now, there’s some silver lining in the dark clouds for him.

Kalen DeBoer gets an optimistic verdict from a prominent analyst for 2025

Getting beaten by teams like Vanderbilt and Oklahoma, along with a Bowl game loss against Michigan, was reason enough for fans to turn against DeBoer. But to top that off, DeBoer’s team gave away 62 penalties for 548 yards. Last season, Alabama had an average of 8.9 penalties per game, making the program’s worst penalty season and also landed 128th in the nation. Even DeBoer had to clear the air regarding the penalty setbacks after the Tennessee game last year. “You can’t win a football game when you have mistakes like we had out there, and all the penalties,” said DeBoer. But this year? Josh Pate is betting his all money on Kalen DeBoer, and for all the good reasons.

Josh Pate, in a recent video, acknowledged how he didn’t always consider 2024 to be a success for Bama and viewed Kalen DeBoer’s performance with “the prism of 2025.” The reason? “They got a lot of guys, probably second or third round grades could have made twice the money elsewhere in the portal if they wanted to stay in college. But they all stayed there… I would be shocked if they’re not in the (playoff) mix this year,” concluded Pate. The verdict?

Kalen DeBoer has already declared his QB1 to be Ty Simpson, and the squad, in terms of quality, is looking well-oiled. Apart from that, he also has the promise of his old pal, Ryan Grubb, coming in as offensive coordinator, which has the potential to move mountains for DeBoer. Now, combine all of this, and it sure looks like Bama is ready to be a regular playoff contender now under Kalen DeBoer.