ESPN's Dan Wetzel on Kalen DeBoer's struggles at Alabama: 'Disbelief this is happening'

Alabama opened year two of the Kalen DeBoer era Saturday afternoon with a disappointing 31-17 loss to unranked Florida State on the road. It marked the Crimson Tide’s third loss in their last four games dating back to last season and DeBoer’s fourth loss in eight games where Alabama has been at least a 14-point favorite.

The less than stellar season-opening performance has led many to assess DeBoer’s ability to coach at the highest level of college football, as Alabama is now just 9-5 in 16 games under the former Washington head coach. Alabama opened a season with a loss for the first time since 2001 (UCLA) and has now lost three of its last four games dating back to last season (Oklahoma, Michigan and Florida State).

ESPN’s Pete Thamel and Dan Wetzel took to Monday’s edition of the “College GameDay Podcast“ to discuss DeBoer’s situation at Alabama. While Wetzel reiterated that DeBoer was certainly the right hire when it was made, things could unravel fast for the Crimson Tide this season.

“(Hiring DeBoer) was not like you were taking a risk, that was the guy to hire,” Wetzel said. “He was the guy that took Washington to the National Championship Game and we got him to come to Alabama. But, he’s 9-5. It’s almost so much disbelief that this is happening. We spent the whole offseason trying to re-do the Playoff because Alabama didn’t get in! Must be something wrong with the system right? But there might be something wrong with Alabama.

“This can go sideways really quick and the pressure will be absolutely enormous on Kalen DeBoer to get it going. They get Louisiana-Monroe next week, then Wisconsin comes. Interesting game. That’s a good game that Alabama should win. Then you have Georgia by the end of the month. By the end of September, this could be reversed or toxic. But an Alabama fan is not ready to sit around and go 8-4.

“The team that you saw on Saturday might be an 8-4 football team, but might not even be that. I don’t know. They’ve got to regroup under duress in Tuscaloosa.”

Alabama has not suffered two losses before the month of October since 2007, which was the first season of the Nick Saban era. This scenario is certainly on the table this season, as the Crimson Tide host Wisconsin on Sept. 13 then travel to Georgia on Sept. 27. If the Crimson Tide head into the month of October with an (at-best) 2-2 record, the seat could get scalding for DeBoer.