Despite Josh Pate’s grade for Kalen DeBoer’s first year, he said Alabama coach handled season well

There’s no forgiving Alabama’s loss to Oklahoma this past season.

Despite missing the College Football Playoffs in his first year as the Alabama head coach, Kalen DeBoer “actually handled (Year 1) properly from a strategic standpoint,” says college football analyst Josh Pate.

Don’t get him wrong. Pate gave DeBoer and the Tide a C+ for the year, which under most circumstances isn’t a success. However, as Pate points out, 2024-25 was anything but mist circumstances.

It started from the moment DeBoer was on campus. When it came to the portal, there was no entry into the program, only an exit. Pate contends DeBoer couldn’t run a spring practice the way he wanted for fear of losing guys in the portal with no way of filling those spots.

“2025 will be unequivocally his way,” Pate said. “They have bought in. It’s his team.”

In fact, Pate made the argument that DeBoer’s season wasn’t that much different than Nick Saban’s final season.

He cited 10 of Saban’s 14 games in 2023 were one score games in the fourth quarter. Four were against unranked opponents.

“There wasn’t that big a drop off performance-wise, efficiency-wise,” Pate said. “I think they will bounce back pretty effectively.”

Mark Heim is a reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim. He can be heard on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5 FM in Mobile or on the free Sound of Mobile App from 6 to 9 a.m. daily.