Rece Davis Names Major CFB Head Coach That Faces Massive Pressure In 2024

The coaching carousel never fails to disappoint in college football, but this season perhaps gave us the biggest shift in the landscape in recent history.

Among other major moves, Nick Saban retired from Alabama, where he had a legendary career, and passed the baton to former Washington Huskies head coach Kalen DeBoer.

After leading Washington to the national championship in 2023, DeBoer makes the move to the SEC to coach one of the most storied programs in college football history.

And as one might think, that job comes with plenty of pressure. There is a lot of pressure in Tuscaloosa, which ESPN's Rece Davis gave us some insight into during his appearance on The Pat McAfee Show.

"The expectations are the same, and they're never going to change," Davis said. "Even though they weren't successful in achieving those, they didn't change when Mike Shula was there, they didn't change when Dennis Franchione was there, and they didn't change for the 42 seconds that Mike Price was there. That is the expectation."

"From what I've heard, it's gone along very well," Davis continued. "Obviously, Kalen is a much different dude...and I think the Alabama players have responded well. He and Jalen Milroe have hit it off. In fact, when we were down there for basketball for College Gameday, I sat at the game with Jalen Milroe and Kalen Deboer, and they seemed to be getting along swimmingly."

"Look, it's going to be a transition; he's following the greatest coach who ever lived in terms of college football," Davis said. "It's not gonna be without bumps in the road. But he's a really good coach, and I think he's been really well accepted by the guys who stayed, and a lot of the guys who stayed sort of use that as a rallying cry to say, 'Hey, we're staying, and we're going to see this transition through.'"

While the bar will always be set high at Alabama, the team seems to be confident that the Crimson Tide has the perfect leader to continue the winning tradition in Tuscaloosa.

Alabama will open the 2024 season against Western Kentucky on Aug. 31 in Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Related: Greg McElroy Names No. 1 Priority For Alabama Entering 2024 CFB Season