Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer has learned just how much the main job in Tuscaloosa can be an absolute pressure cooker, with some fans throwing around some absolutely wild takes every time his team loses a game or doesn’t play all that great.

Headed into a third season, DeBoer is by all accounts not on the hot seat, however, that has not stopped pundits and fans from declaring he is. Something ESPN and SEC Network analyst Marty Smith had some strong thoughts on.

During a recent appearance on “The Next Round,” Smith railed against those who have attempted to show DeBoer the door over the last two seasons.

“I think he is tremendous, I am a huge fan of the way he came into Alabama and didn’t try to be baby Saban,” Smith said when asked if DeBoer is the right guy for Alabama. “They didn’t get it done in 2025. To try to run him out the door, to me, is completely and utterly ridiculous and asinine. You tell me, if it’s not him, who will they get that will come to Tuscaloosa right now?”

“Tell me who that guy is that’s going to appease people that want to run a guy that is fielding a competitive team, a winning team, who’s winning in the fourth quarter. He got his ass kicked in the Rose Bowl and that’s what people are looking at. Tell me who it is…The college football that Nick Saban coached is not the college football Kalen DeBoer is coaching. Nobody is looking at context, everyone is looking at outcome.”

DeBoer knows he has to do more in order to get this program back where it belongs. However, Smith is spot on in saying that there simply is not an available upgrade to what is currently in Tuscaloosa.

The grass is not always greener, and it may be time for Alabama fans to learn that.