Alabama-Georgia feels different this year, but Kalen DeBoer's stakes couldn't be higher

In a perfect world, Kalen DeBoer probably would have given himself a longer runway on the schedule to ease into the great demands of being Alabama‘s head coach. In reality, he gets to face Georgia in his SEC opener Saturday, which, funny enough, is the first time in 11 years the Crimson Tide have faced a top-10 opponent to begin conference play.

Maybe that’s the most appropriate thing that could have happened to DeBoer. 

Maybe it’s just best for DeBoer to accept in the fall — or, frankly, around the calendar — everything is going to be more challenging in this new venture. 

Every day is going to be hard. Every day is going to have a battle to win or lose, whether it be in recruiting or on the field. And every day he’s going to be expected to win. 

“Welcome to the SEC, right?” he said Monday.

No, welcome to Alabama. Welcome, Coach, to the first big-time test that will help form people’s opinions of whether you’re actually cut out for this job or whether you belong somewhere where the expectations aren’t quite as high. It’s brutal, but it’s true at Alabama.

It takes a special person to put themselves in the positon DeBoer chose. After leading Washington to the national title game a year ago, he probably could have stayed in Seattle for the rest of his career and left on his own terms, left a hero. That would have been a cushy existence and he would have earned a fortune in the process. 

Instead, DeBoer got the opportunity to go to Alabama, a place that doesn’t accept three-loss seasons, and replace the greatest coach of all time in Nick Saban, who lost three games in a single season only once in 17 years leading the Crimson Tide program. 

So when you ask why DeBoer would choose this particular career path, the answer is Saturday’s Alabama-Georgia game. This is why he came. This is what he wanted. 

“I told our guys that yesterday when we met,” he said. “(I said), ‘you come to this place here at Alabama to be a part of games that gather a lot of attention, to be in an atmosphere and an environment that’s just special and different. So embrace it. Embrace the challenges. Embrace the things that are going to come our way against great football teams. That’s what you’ve got to love about being a competitor.’ So, yes, you’re exactly right. We all came here, all of us, different journeys, players, staff, came here in different ways to be part of something like this that you’re going to see on Saturday.”

This is the game of the year on paper. It doesn’t get any bigger than Alabama-Georgia, but the hype for this edition seems dialed back. There could be a few reasons for that.

First, it’s the inaugural year of the 12-team College Football Playoff field, so regardless of who wins or loses this game, both teams will still firmly be in the national title hunt. Unless it’s an epic blowout one way or the other, there’s no way either team is going to fall out of CFP projections.

Second, this game is different than most of the times Alabama and Georgia have played recently. Why? Because before this year, the two titans of the SEC were separated by divisions in the conference, thus limiting the amount of times they’ve faced in the regular season. These teams have faced six times since 2018, but only once has it happened in the regular season. All of the other matchups have been in the SEC Championship or College Football Playoff, two of which came in the national title game for the 2017 and 2021 seasons. The stakes, typically, are off the charts. It’s usually win or go home.

So in the inevitable discussion of which coach — DeBoer or Georgia’s Kirby Smart — faces more pressure Saturday, it’s undeniably DeBoer. Smart is the new king of college football. He has two national title rings and he leads the most intimidating program in the sport. Georgia absolutely could lose this game and still be a terrifying opponent for everyone remaining on its schedule. Georgia is going to be fine either way.

Now if Alabama loses?

Imagine what DeBoer is going to have to face if the Bulldogs come into Bryant-Denny Stadium and, for a lack of a better term, Dawg Walk the Crimson Tide. Here’s a preview of what you’ll see in YouTube comments sections and X mentions:

“He’s a small-time coach.”

“Life is different in the SEC.”

“He’s no Saban.”

“Alabama is cooked.”

You get it. It’s such an easy leap to take if he comes up short right out of the gate, especially when operating a roster that was in large part assembled by Saban, the greatest recruiter of all time.

There has to be a certain look about it for DeBoer’s Alabama. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a win because, like Georgia, Alabama will still unquestionably be able to compete for a national title if it loses. It’s about how Alabama looks. It’s whether Alabama, a team that arguably has more talent than Georgia this year, continues to play like one of the titans of the sport. Fast, athletic, powerful, imposing, dangerous.

There’s no reason it shouldn’t. A roster this talented being guided by an offensive guru like DeBoer promises so much potential. DeBoer’s Washington offense, also extremely talented, was a thrilling show a year ago. So why shouldn’t this Alabama team that’s backed by quarterback Jalen Milroe, receiver Ryan Williams and so many others?

The pressure isn’t about just winning this game or staying alive in the College Football Playoff hunt. The pressure is about showing the world that Alabama is still Alabama in a nationally-televised game where just about every college football fan in the country is dialed in to watch. It’s about proving to the more than 100 recruits on the sidelines that Alabama is more than Saban, that it’s still a place five-star prospects come to be great.

With the program Saban built, Alabama was definitely going to be good for the first few years under DeBoer’s leadership. The scary part was pondering what Alabama will look like in three years when all of these talented players walk out the door. Remember, DeBoer came to Alabama having never signed a top-100 player out of high school because he was only at a major program for only two years. We weren’t sure if he had the recruiting chops to keep Alabama’s roster at this level.

DeBoer has recruited quite well in his short time there, including holding onto Williams, who decommitted after Saban retired before recommitting to the current staff. But this is such a monumental moment for the Alabama program. It’s an opportunity for DeBoer to prove to the next generation of players — the ones who will go to Alabama for Alabama, not for Saban — that Tuscaloosa is still Title Town.

The stakes of this game aren’t going to live up to most of the iterations of this matchup in the last six years.

But for DeBoer? The stakes couldn’t be higher.

Welcome to the SEC, indeed.