Kirby Smart and Steve Sarkisian top CBS Sports' list of best SEC head coaches. Alabama's Kalen DeBoer isn't so far behind them.
No one is counting out Alabama football coach Kalen DeBoer despite an up-and-down first season in Tuscaloosa, at least not according to CBS Sports.
College football analyst Brad Crawford unveiled his annual SEC head coach rankings entering the 2025 season on Wednesday. While Georgia's Kirby Smart topped the list at No. 1 and Texas' Steve Sarkisian followed at No. 2, DeBoer wasn't that far behind them. The second-year Crimson Tide coach landed at No. 4.
Crawford says that DeBoer faces a "show-me" season in 2025 after a 9-4 campaign last year.
"No one's bailing on the DeBoer era in Tuscaloosa just yet, but he did slip a few spots nationally after failing to meet lofty program expectations in 2024. This is a show-me year for DeBoer, whose sparkling 15-3 record against top 25 teams as a coach was primarily accomplished at Washington. It's time to win big in the SEC now, and Alabama expects the offseason hire of Ryan Grubb -- DeBoer's righthand man offensively -- to result in a playoff berth."
Kalen DeBoer or Brian Kelly? CBS Sports ranks LSU coach ahead of Alabama's
The last time LSU football had a head coach who ranked consistently ahead of Alabama's on anyone's list came before Nick Saban returned to the college game some 18 and a half years ago. Yet DeBoer placed behind LSU's Brian Kelly in CBS Sports' ranking of SEC coaches entering 2025.
Preseason rankings are all subjective, but this one is perhaps a bit puzzling, given that the Crimson Tide ran Kelly's team out of Tiger Stadium last year in a 42-13 rout that saw Alabama keep the Bayou Bengals out of the end-zone until garbage time.
LSU's 9-4 campaign didn't do Kelly any favors, and the natives are growing restless in and around Baton Rouge. In spite of that, Kelly still placed at No. 3 in CBS Sports' rankings, slipping just one spot from last year when he placed behind only Smart.
Crawford said of Kelly:
"He's not on the SEC's hottest coaching seat, but few face more pressure than Kelly this fall. He has admitted Year 4 in Baton Rouge should -- at minimum -- result in a playoff appearance for the Tigers, who reloaded through the transfer portal and welcome back the league's top quarterback in Garrett Nussmeier. Few programs invested as many resources into its 2025 roster as the Tigers, and now it's up to Kelly to push the right buttons toward success."
DeBoer and Kelly will square off on Nov. 8 at Bryant-Denny Stadium in a prime time showdown. Depending on whether Alabama and LSU meet the lofty expectations they each face entering the season, the SEC's coaching outlook beyond 2025 could look a lot different by then.
Alabama football schedule 2025
Alabama will open the season against Florida State at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee on Aug. 30. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CT. The game will be televised on ABC.
- Aug. 30: at Florida State, 2:30 p.m., ABC
- Sept. 6: vs. Louisiana-Monroe, 6:45 p.m., SEC Network
- Sept. 13: vs. Wisconsin, 11 a.m., ABC or ESPN
- Sept. 27: at Georgia, 6:30 p.m., ABC
- Oct. 4: vs. Vanderbilt, TBA
- Oct. 11: at Missouri, 11 a.m., ABC or ESPN
- Oct. 18: vs. Tennessee, TBA
- Oct. 25: at South Carolina, TBA
- Nov. 8: vs. LSU, prime time
- Nov. 15: vs. Oklahoma, TBA
- Nov. 22 vs. Eastern Illinois, 1 p.m., ESPN+
- Nov. 29: at Auburn, TBA
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This article originally appeared on Roll Tide Wire: Alabama football coach Kalen DeBoer faces 'show-me year,' expert says
Category: General Sports
