ESPN insider suggests Nick Saban, College GameDay could create added pressure on Kalen DeBoer

There was always going to be pressure on whoever replaced Nick Saban as the head coach at Alabama. However, ESPN insider Courtney Cronin believes the pressure on Kalen DeBoer could be intensified with Saban set to appear on ESPN College GameDay this fall.

Cronin explained her stance on ESPN First Take Friday morning, sharing that with Saban still out and about discussing football, Alabama will need to immediately be good under Kalen DeBoer.

“Buried within all of this is the fact that Kalen DeBoer goes into a situation that’s kind of unprecedented,” Cronin said. “The fact that Nick Saban didn’t just go off into retirement. … But he’s going to be on College GameDay. He’s effectively everywhere right now.”

Alabama opens the season with matchups against Western Kentucky and South Florida, before facing Wisconsin and Georgia in back-to-back weeks.

If the Crimson Tide lose in Week 3 and Week 4 to drop to 2-2 on the year, Cronin believes there will be a lot of negative talk about DeBoer and the Alabama program.

“Let’s say they struggle in some of those early games. The first two weeks, non-conference programs at home. They shouldn’t have any problem with that. But then the Wisconsin game on the road and then having Georgia come to town,” Cronin said. “If Alabama loses those games, and if this team struggles, Nick Saban’s going to have to talk about that on College GameDay. Kalen DeBoer won’t be able to escape the Nick Saban shadow in which he’s already in. Can you imagine how loud that noise is going to get?”

Cronin added that a 2-2 start under Kalen DeBoer could lead to Alabama fans growing frustrated and perhaps even calling for DeBoer to be fired. He obviously would never be fired after four games, but there’s no doubt that he needs to have a strong first season in Tuscaloosa to make the fan base believers.

“People [will be] clamoring for his job, because you know they will. Fan is short for fanatic, and people are going to be looking at, if things don’t go according to the way they believe they should go, ‘Well, let’s get somebody else in here. With Nick Saban, this stuff wouldn’t have happened under him,’” Cronin said. “I think there’s a ton of pressure on Kalen DeBoer, not just from what has to happen on the field, put for the perception to get out from under Nick Saban’s shadow when he still is such a visible figure in the college football world.”