Kirby Smart pressed to analyze Kalen DeBoer's first season at Alabama

Kirby Smart revealed he has a lot of respect for Kalen DeBoer at Alabama. The Georgia coach was pressed to evaluate how the Crimson Tide coach has done going into Year 2 of his tenure.

At this point, Smart’s one of the older guys on the block, at least in terms of how long he’s been at Georgia. He’ll go into Year 10 with the school this season.

But Smart’s Bulldogs lost to DeBoer’s Crimson Tide last year. Although Georgia ended up winning the SEC and made the College Football Playoff while Alabama was left scratching their heads following a 9-4 campaign.

“I’m not qualified to give an analysis of another head coach in our league who I have tremendous respect for,” Smart said at SEC Media Days. “And you know, anytime you come into a situation that he came into behind Nick and at that program and the transition, it’s going to be a new deal. And I think he’s a tremendous coach, obviously … they did an outstanding job jumping all over us. So, my respect for coach DeBoer is high.”

It might be wise to take Smart’s word for it, regarding DeBoer. He took Washington to the national championship game just a few years ago but knows there’s more pressure at Alabama, especially following Nick Saban.

Not that Smart is in the business of hot takes of putting anyone on the hot seat. Such as life in the coaching fraternity.

But since it’s the summer, there’s already opinions regarding DeBoer at Alabama after just one season. ESPN’s Harry Douglas even alluded to the hot seat in Tuscaloosa.

“I’m going to Alabama and Kalen DeBoer,” Douglas responded when asked about coaches on the hot seat. “And it’s hard when you have to follow a legend. You have to follow a legend like Nick Saban and you don’t make the College Football Playoff in your first year. You don’t play for an SEC Championship. I tell you one thing, fans are not gonna wait. They’re gonna put this pressure on Coach DeBoer. He now has his offensive coordinator, Ryan Grubb, who we had at the University of Washington. Let’s see if things can get better for the Alabama Crimson Tide moving forward in 2025.”

The Crimson Tide shot to a No. 1 ranking following a 42-10 drumming of Wisconsin and an incredible 41-34 win over Georgia, but went just 5-4 over their final nine games with losses to Vanderbilt, No. 11 Tennessee, Oklahoma and Michigan. It marked the first season that Alabama had lost three games to unranked opponents since 2007 (Saban’s first season).