The Alabama Crimson Tide enter the 2025 college football season in a bit of an unfamiliar spot.
While fans and critics alike gradually got used to Nick Saban not being on the Alabama footballsideline after 17 unprecedented seasons of success, coach Kalen DeBoer still has some skepticsentering 2025.
Alabama finished 9-4 in DeBoer’s first season and despite an ugly late-season loss at Oklahoma, the Crimson Tide appeared set to make the College Football Playoff — even with three losses.
The Clemson Tigers and Dabo Swinney, a former Alabama player turned formidable thorn in the side, then stole the Crimson Tide’s projected at-large spot by becoming the first “bid thief” of the expanded 12-team playoff. In doing so, Alabama wound up in the ReliaQuest Bowl (formerly the Outback Bowl) and lost to a Michigan Wolverinesteam that was a shell of its 2023 national championship self in Tampa.
What would make for a successful second season for DeBoer in Tuscaloosa? Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt weighed in with his thoughts on the Thursday edition of his popular program: “The Joel Klatt Show: A College Football Podcast.”
For Klatt, the answer comes down to only one thing: Alabama must reach the 2025 College Football Playoff in order for the season to be considered any kind of success.
“They’ve never missed the playoff two years in a row, and Kalen DeBoer does not want that on his record in just his second season as the head coach at Alabama. This team has to go to the College Football Playoff — like, that is the bare minimum. I really think they probably need to win a game in the College Football Playoff, but they absolutely have to go to the College Football Playoff.” –Joel Klatt, Fox Sports
The good news, for Klatt at least, is that he believes Alabama will return to the playoff in 2025 and that offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb will be a big reason why.
Klatt views Grubb as a tremendous asset for the Crimson Tide and for DeBoer after the longtime duo reunited this offseason.
“Ryan Grubb being back for them as their offensive coordinator, I think, is huge. This is a program that is used to being the pinnacle of the sport. We’ve never, ever seen what Nick Saban was able to do. He was the best coach in the history of this sport. They had a sustained level of success that we’re never going to see again, winning national championships over cycles of recruits. But they’re right on the back of that.” –Joel Klatt
