MIRAMAR BEACH, Fla. -- Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne on Wednesday said that changing head football coaches every two to three years is "absolutely ludicrous" and emphasized the importance of stability under Kalen DeBoer.
DeBoer, who is 20-8 heading into his third season leading the Tide, is coming off an 11-4 season that included a berth in the College Football Playoff, where Alabama advanced to the quarterfinals before losing to eventual national champion Indiana at the Rose Bowl.
He was hired to replace former coach Nick Saban, who retired in January 2024 after guiding the Crimson Tide to six national championships.
Last month, Alabama awarded DeBoer a new seven-year contract that will pay him $12.5 million per season and expire on Jan. 31, 2033. It extended his prior deal by two years.
"Expectations at Alabama are high. That's what you sign up for when you come to Alabama. That hasn't changed," Byrne said following the second day of SEC spring meetings, where six different schools have new football coaches. "What I also believe, though, is the idea of changing your coach every two to three years is absolutely ludicrous, and when you have a coach that you believe in, like we believe in Coach DeBoer, you want to have stability in that, and you will have a lot of really good times, and you'll also have challenging times.
"Everybody's going to face that as our world has changed, and so our extension with Coach DeBoer showed our commitment and belief in him, and that we really value stability at Alabama. And that's been the case with Coach Saban, obviously, forever, and we want that stability to continue with Coach DeBoer."
That doesn't mean the pressure isn't on in Year 3, as precedent has been set. Saban won his first title with the Tide in 2009, his third season. Gene Stallings did the same in 1992, also his third season. Going way back, Wallace Wade won Alabama's first national title in 1925 -- also in his third season.
Since Alabama played its first SEC season in 1933, DeBoer is the fifth coach to have started his Tide career with back-to-back four-loss seasons. None of the others lasted longer than four seasons with Alabama.
Multiple coaches and athletic directors throughout the SEC this week have lamented the "playoff-or-bust" mentality that contributed to an unprecedented round of coaches being fired last fall. Billy Napier (Florida), Brian Kelly (LSU) and Hugh Freeze (Auburn) were among some of the most notable.
"You pay attention to it," Byrne said, "but you also look at the track record of constant turnover in your coaching staff and your head coach. It's not a good, long-term, healthy solution 99% of the time."