Kalen DeBoer does not want Alabama thinking expanded playoff offers more wiggle room

College football will look differently in 2024. Conference realignment will take place and the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff format changes the game for teams like Alabama, who no longer have to win every single game of the season to make the field.

However, new head coach Kalen DeBoer believes there’s still little wiggle room for error heading into 2024. After all, the top four seeds receive first-round bye’s and the last thing the Crimson Tide head coach wants is to potentially face another power conference opponent in a first-round scenario.

“You want to be the highest seed that you possibly can. And so every single game, still, to me is very important,” DeBoer said at the SEC spring meetings in Destin. “You know, it isn’t just always about making the playoffs. It’s about winning in the playoffs and winning a championship. And so everything that goes into that, you know, matters when it comes to each and every game. So, I don’t like to think that you have a little wiggle room because more teams are in the playoffs.

“I don’t want us thinking that way. I want us to think about every game, the significance of it, and how important it is to us landing at a great spot, you know, and getting a potential first round by the playoffs. And so that, to me, you know is what we’ll be attacking and what we’ll be working for.”

While the margin for error is certainly a bit larger for the Crimson Tide now that there are eight additional playoff spots to fill, DeBoer still wants to emerge victorious each Saturday in the fall. Based on his track record, the first-year Alabama coach brings a history of winning with him to T-Town.

Overall, he’s 104-12 as a head coach across all levels and has three NAIA National Championships to his credit, winning them in a four-year span between 2006-2009. After multiple stops throughout the Division I level, he became a head coach again in 2020 and coached Fresno State to a 9-3 season in 2021 before moving on to the success he enjoyed Washington.

He’ll look to continue that same success this fall in Tuscaloosa. Alabama kicks off the Kalen DeBoer era against Western Kentucky during Week 1 on Aug. 31 before matching with the likes of Wisconsin on the road and a blockbuster meeting against Georgia at home before Week 5.