Paul Finebaum drops truth bomb on Alabama's chances of winning national championship in 2025 

As an ESPN commentator and long-time follower of Alabama and SEC football, Paul Finebaum has never shied away from a strong opinion. That said, Finebaum probably dismayed more than a few strong Alabama fans with his comments on their team under coach Kalen DeBoer. DeBoer led the Tide to a 9-4 record this year, but Finebaum is underwhelmed by the Tide.

Paul Finebaum comments on Alabama Crimson Tide

"I don't see a national championship for Alabama. I think that their goal really is the same as it was this year – get to the playoff," Finebaum said on 'The Paul Finebaum Show' via YardBarker.com.

ESPN personality Paul Finebaum isn't very high on Alabama's program under Kalen DeBoer (Photo Credit: IMAGN)

Alabama under DeBoer

The 9-4 mark in Kalen DeBoer's first season was the fewest wins for a Tide team since 2007, which was Nick Saban's first season. But Saban inherited a team that had struggled to post winning seasons under prior coach Mike Shula. DeBoer inherited a team with 16 straight 10+ win seasons.

DeBoer's struggles came despite returning a strong roster, including Heisman candidate Jalen Milroe. Conventional wisdom was that Milroe, who had been somewhat spotty under Saban, was being held back by the system he played in. DeBoer's wide-open passing attack was expected to yield dividends.

Instead, Milroe saw his completion percentage, yards per pass and number of touchdown passes all decline, while his interception total nearly doubled.

Alabama found itself outside of the first-ever 12-team College Football Playoff, due in large part to a shocking 40-35 loss to Vanderbilt on Oct. 5. Vandy's last victory over Alabama had come in 1984.

But even as shocking as the Vanderbilt upset was the game that stands strongest as an indictment of DeBoer was a 24-3 loss to Oklahoma on Nov. 23. Alabama gained just 234 total yards and was dominated by a miserable Oklahoma team in a 6-7 season of its own that passed for just 68 yards.

Alabama under Saban

Of course, the failures of the DeBoer era would be less blatant had they not followed arguably the most astonishing coaching tenure in modern college football. Not only did Nick Saban lose four games just once in his 17 seasons in Alabama, but he had two undefeated seasons and six national championships.

That said, Saban, something of an X and O purist, was clearly dismayed at the time and trouble of constant fundraising, NIL recruiting battles and even the oncoming chaos of an even stronger SEC with Texas and Oklahoma on board.

But his shadow hangs over DeBoer, and Finebaum's comments won't do a thing to change that.

What do you think of Alabama's course? Is DeBoer doomed? Weigh in with your takes in the comments section below.