It hasn’t been easy for Kalen DeBoer at Alabama, and their arch rivals at Tennessee were all too happy to rub his nose in it.
In his first year after taking over for the legendary Nick Saban, DeBoer managed to miss the newly expanded 12 team College Football Playoff. To start his second year on the Crimson Tide sidelines, things went from bad to worse as Alabama got soundly beaten by a Florida State team coming off a 2-10 season.
DeBoer and Alabama are hosting Wisconsin in Week 3 in a game they are easily favored to win. But when he was interviewed via satellite on College GameDay from Tuscaloosa, the fans on site in Knoxville at the University of Tennessee reveled in his defeat.
While DeBoer was being interviewed, the fans started with a simple “Kalen sucks” chant. Then they got creative by doing Florida State’s signature tomahawk chop chant. The noise became so deafening in Knoxville that even Pat McAfee had to acknowledge it during the interview.
Tennessee fans taunt Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer by doing the tomahawk chop during his College GameDay interview after their Week 1 loss to Florida State. pic.twitter.com/D1Wn6zUhzP
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 13, 2025
Hopefully for Kalen DeBoer, he couldn’t hear the College GameDay crowd in his earpiece. Who knows just how much bled through his earpiece. But if he didn’t, then McAfee’s comments painted a clear picture of what was happening at the campus of their longtime rivals. Surely DeBoer was grateful to be informed that he was being made into a punchline live in front of a national television audience.
It’s bad enough for DeBoer to have to go through this tough start at Alabama and for SEC fanbases to take such joy in his slow start with the Crimson Tide. The fact that it has to happen with his iconic predecessor on the set probably makes it all the more awkward. At least they didn’t bring up the woman who would use her Powerball winnings to fire him, though.
About Matt Yoder