The Alabama Crimson Tide announced an extension with Kalen DeBoer which keeps him under contract until 2033 and pays him an average annual salary of $12.5 million to make him one of the highest paid coaches in the sport.

Of course, there is certainly an element here of this is what the market dictates, and DeBoer was pursued heavily by major programs like Michigan and Penn State for their head coach openings.

When that happens, an extension and raise almost goes without saying if the school wants to keep their coach, so the deal is not particularly shocking.

What is fairly eye-opening given what some of the results have been over DeBoer’s first two seasons is the commitment in terms of buyout.

Should Alabama decide after this season to move on, they would owe the former Washington coach a cool $67 million, making it virtually impossible barring complete disaster that DeBoer’s job is in jeopardy headed into year three.

While there is something to be said about program stability, especially coming off the Nick Saban era, this is undeniably a fairly significant risk from Greg Byrne. DeBoer deserves every bit of credit for making the SEC title game and winning a road playoff game, and the program took steps in his second season.

With that being said, this is a team that has unacceptably lost multiple games as a double digit favorite against unranked opponents, as well as being on the receiving end of an embarrassing beatdown in the Rose Bowl.

Fans who want DeBoer out certainly need to temper expectations, but if DeBoer’s squads keep on losing games they have no business losing, the noise is only going to get louder.

Clearly, Byrne has the utmost faith and belief in DeBoer being the guy to continue carrying this program forward into the future, but if the upcoming season does not go well and Alabama goes 8-4 and misses the College Football Playoff, there will be a lot of folks upset that the extension was signed now.

The only guarantee the contract brings is that DeBoer probably is going to get at least five years barring a complete and utter disaster, and time will tell whether or not that was a wise decision from Byrne.

It’s a massive gamble, the likes of which could pay off in a big way, but also could wind up looking foolish if the Tide does not look more like the Tide in the years ahead.

For better or worse, Alabama has just confirmed that DeBoer is their guy moving forward.