Damien Harris proclaims Kalen DeBoer job on the line vs. Oklahoma, AJ McCarron reacts

Following a legend is never easy. Look no further than late former Alabama head coach Ray Perkins, the Crimson Tide alum that succeeded the legendary Paul “Bear” Bryant in 1983 only to be fired after just four seasons at the helm.

Four decades later, second-year Alabama head football coach Kalen DeBoer finds himself in the same position in Tuscaloosa, trying to carry on the unparalleled standard of excellence established by his predecessor, Nick Saban, who won six of his NCAA-record seven national titles in the prior 17 seasons.

Given that reality, the 51-year-old DeBoer continues to face heavy pressure from fans and alumni alike even after returning the Crimson Tide to the College Football Playoffs following a one-year absence in 2024. But as DeBoer prepares to lead No. 9 Alabama (10-3) into Norman on Friday night (8 pm ET, ABC) for their first-round Playoff game against No. 8 Oklahoma (10-2), there are some who believe it could be a make-or-break game for his tenure in Tuscaloosa.

“In my opinion, I think his job is on the line with this game, and I think there’s a lot of reasons why,” former Alabama running back-turned-analyst Damien Harris said Friday on CBS Sports HQ. “One, we’ve seen how hard it is to beat a team twice in college football, and if we look at this Alabama team (after the Oklahoma game) and say you showed no improvement from the first time you played Oklahoma to the second time, you weren’t able to make adjustments to flip the script of that (first) game, and you can’t win that football game (after) luckily getting into the Playoffs. That’s going to be a problem. (But) a first-round exit after missing the Playoffs last year?

Damien Harris: ‘I think Kalen DeBoer’s job will be in a little bit of jeopardy’ with a first-round Playoff exit

“Listen, this isn’t the tradition, this isn’t the history that Alabama fans are used to. This isn’t the standard of excellence that’s used to being had in Tuscaloosa at the University of Alabama — people are still talking about that,” Harris continued. “… I know it’s Year 2, I know we’re talking about needing to give coaches time, but when we’re talking about the University of Alabama and the legacy that needs to be set, … and Kalen DeBoer needs to put his own DNA on that. We’re not seeing that right now. We’re seeing a team that’s full of a lot of potential, has a lot of talent, a lot of resources, but they just haven’t lived up to the billing quite yet during the Kalen DeBoer tenure. … All that being said, I think Kalen DeBoer’s job will be in a little bit of jeopardy going into next season if they don’t win this football game.”

Of course, Harris isn’t in any position to make a decision on DeBoer’s job status in Tuscaloosa. That’s the job of veteran Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne, who has expressed nothing but support for his second-year head football coach, even amid outside speculation connecting DeBoer to Big Ten openings at Michigan and Penn State in recent weeks.

That said, DeBoer — who is 19-7 in two seasons at Alabama — hasn’t lost the faith of the entire Crimson Tide alumni base, with former three-time national championship-winning QB AJ McCarron calling for a little grace for the man that stood up and accepted the challenge of following in Saban’s footsteps.

AJ McCarron calls on Alabama fans, alumni to give Kalen DeBoer ‘some grace’ in Year 2 in Tuscaloosa

“Listen, I agree with Damien, right, there’s a standard of being at Alabama, there’s a certain pressure that comes with the job. There also needs to be some grace in this situation as well, because … there were a ton of big-name coaches — from people that I’ve heard from — that turned this job down, that didn’t want this challenge,” McCarron responded on CBS Sports HQ. “I think it says a lot for Coach Kalen DeBoer that he was the man that took the job and didn’t pass it up, and said, ‘Hey, I’ll take the challenge, put it on my shoulders and let me see what I can do with it.’ … I think that says a lot about him as a person and as a coach, and the guys on the team believe in him. Listen, that’s all you need. As a coach, you can call peanut butter and jelly, if the guys believe in it, they’ll go out and perform it at the highest level.”

Of course, it’s going to take much more than PB&Js to beat Oklahoma, which has won two straight against DeBoer and Alabama, including handing the Crimson Tide a 23-21 home loss on Nov. 15 inside Bryant-Denny Stadium.