Stephen A. Smith claims Kalen DeBoer should not have replaced Nick Saban at Alabama: 'I'm not a fan of him'

Kalen DeBoer has taken plenty of heat from Alabama fans and college football pundits alike amid a rather disappointing start to his tenure in Tuscaloosa, especially given his 2-6 record away from Bryant-Denny Stadium. But arguably no one has been more critical than ESPN firebrand host Stephen A. Smith, First Take‘s noted armchair Crimson Tide fan.

Ahead of Saturday’s much-anticipated SEC showdown between No. 17 Alabama at No. 5 Georgia, Smith doubled down on his criticism of the second-year Tide head coach when he suggested DeBoer shouldn’t have been Nick Saban‘s successor following his surprise retirement in January 2024.

“He’s not the right — listen, I know the man won at Washington … but I’m not a fan of him at Alabama,” Smith said during Friday’s First Take. “Kalen DeBoer, to me, should not have been the successor to Nick Saban.”

After some back-and-forth among the First Take panel, including ESPN analyst Ryan Clark pointing out most Alabama fans like Smith have forgotten the program’s struggles prior to Saban’s arrival in 2007, Smith ended Friday’s show by weighing better successors for the seven-time national championship-winning coach.

“I threw out a name like Jon Gruden (recently),” Smith said. “With Kalen DeBoer, you just don’t see Nick Saban elements in him.”

While Gruden’s old-school personality is much more akin to Saban’s than DeBoer, the former NFL coach hasn’t so much as interviewed for another coaching opportunity since his resignation as the Las Vegas Raiders head coach following a 2021 New York Times report revealed he sent homophobic, misogynistic and racist messages to former Washington Commanders general manager Bruce Allen between 2011-18.

Cam Newton claims Kalen DeBoer will ‘be in a volcano’ if Alabama loses to Georgia

Alabama‘s season got off on the wrong foot, as it was run off the field by unranked Florida State in Tallahassee, 31-1,7 in its season opener. This loss raised many questions about the future of head coach Kalen DeBoer, and those questions haven’t gone away even after Alabama‘s 73-0 shutout win against Louisiana-Monroe and 38-14 win over Wisconsin.

Through 16 games as the head coach in Tuscaloosa, DeBoer is 11-5 with four losses in games where the Crimson Tide were favored by at least two touchdowns. His job security, however, seems very tight, as he boasts one of the largest contract buy-outs in the entire sport.

Prior to Alabama‘s monstrous matchup against No. 5 Georgia on Saturday, former Heisman Trophy winner and NFL MVP Cam Newton claimed that DeBoer “is gonna be in a volcano somewhere if he loses” on Friday’s First Take.

“Coach Kalen DeBoer… you have to understand. If you lose this game, you think (James) Franklin’s seat is gonna get hot … my boy (DeBoer) is gonna be in a volcano somewhere if he loses this one,” Newton said Friday. “I say it once and I’ll say it again, the level of expectation at the University of Alabama is unlike any other school in the nation. It’s because coach Nick Saban created a standard not many, even Bear Bryant, only him created. When you start to think about his greatness, he won a National Championship, got doused, and was still in the mood of winning. He was like ‘What’s next?'”

— On3’s Daniel Hager contributed to this report.