Paul Finebaum explains if people should be jumping back on the Kalen DeBoer train at Alabama

The Alabama Crimson Tide got off on the wrong foot in 2025, dropping a road game to the Florida State Seminoles. In the process, the Crimson Tide put an uninspiring product on the field, which in turn led to a lot of backlash on head coach Kalen DeBoer from the fanbase. Seemingly, he was on thin ice going into Week 2.

Alabama bounced back in a big way in Week 2. The Crimson Tide dominated ULM 73-0, looking like they were trying to prove a point against an overmatched opponent. That, in turn, has led to Paul Finebaum believing that some fans are now jumping back on the DeBoer train. He explained why he believes that on McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning.

“It’s interesting,” Paul Finebaum said. “Walking around Birmingham yesterday, I detected a lot of people jumping on board again. But, remember, these are fans and they saw a near-perfect performance, maybe not in terms of grading but in terms of what it appeared to be visually or in the stadium.”

Not much went wrong for Alabama against ULM. The Crimson Tide would score 21 points in three of the four quarters. Only the third quarter coming out of the half did they not hit that mark, and Alabama still won the quarter 10-0. Alabama would outgain ULM 583 yards to 148 yards. That was 8.4 yards per play to 3.0 yards per play. Alabama was also +3 in the turnover battle and did not punt.

“So, I think it was critically important that this team look like a real team again. The effort was there. Ty Simpson was quite good. Does it matter or does it mean much overall in the scheme of the season? Probably not. You knew Alabama was going to win that game,” Finebaum said. “But I think it gives this team some confidence and, maybe, whatever the problem was Week 1, has been corrected.”

This week, Alabama is going to see a step up in competition. The Wisconsin Badgers are making the trip to Tuscaloosa. After that, the Crimson Tide will have a bye week before entering SEC play with a road trip against the Georgia Bulldogs. Finding some success, there is going to be incredibly important to get all of the fanbase back on board with Kalen DeBoer.

“I think Georgia is a completely different situation. I would worry about Wisconsin first,” Finebaum said. “But I thought everyone — Coach DeBoer and his staff, did everything they could to change the script and they did.”