Kalen DeBoer is preparing for his second season as Alabama’s head coach, with the opener still more than two weeks away. Taking over for Nick Saban, who guided the Crimson Tide to six national titles in nine championship appearances, has brought heavy scrutiny.Many were critical of DeBoer in his debut year, and expectations are even higher now.However, ESPN’s Marty Smith isn’t ready to draw comparisons to Saban."I think that he admittedly thought he knew what that job was going to be. He'd had big jobs before. He'd taken teams to national championship games at Washington."But I don't think you can know what being the head coach at the University of Alabama is until you're that person, especially following the greatest to ever do it. And I thought he managed that so well last year."Last season, Alabama opened with four straight wins, including a 41-34 win over Georgia on Sept. 28. But a 40-35 loss to Vanderbilt on Oct. 5 was a shock, as the Commodores hadn’t beaten the Crimson Tide in four decades.DeBoer's debut season wasn’t disastrous, but it was Alabama’s weakest in years, marking the first time since 2007 the school failed to win at least 10 games.However, Smith remains confident in DeBoer’s future."I know that there is room for growth and so I have incredibly high expectations," Smith said. "I'm a huge fan of him as a man, as a person. But I think he's a damn great football coach, too. And I think that that program is in great hands with him."At Washington, DeBoer was 25–3 in two seasons.Alabama LB Deontae Lawson reveals the biggest difference between Kalen DeBoer and Nick SabanKalen DeBoer wrapped up the 2024 season with a 9-4 record, closing with a 19-13 loss to Michigan in the ReliaQuest Bowl on Dec. 31.Alabama linebacker Deontae Lawson, who experienced the program’s transition from Nick Saban to DeBoer, described the two coaches as “extremely different” in their approaches to working with players.“I mean, you got Coach Saban, who is just so detail-oriented and he just demands excellence from everyone around him," Lawson said (via AL.com’s Michael Casagrande). "Coaches, players, it doesn’t matter who it is.”“And, Coach DeBoer is also detail-oriented and demands excellence. But you’re able to, I feel like, be yourself. I feel like with Coach Saban, you know who he is- his figure. It kind of makes you tense up or something like that. For freshmen coming in, that wouldn’t be a good thing because you’re trying to do everything perfect and it end up to him having to chew you out.”However, their drive to win remains identical, as running back Jam Miller noted that DeBoer also pushes players to reach their full potential like Saban.