Kalen DeBoer's contract extension remains elusive, fueling speculation that Alabama's 'mood tracker' for its coach is anything but calm.
On an episode of "Josh Pate's College Football Show" on Sunday, the host provided an update on where Alabama and head coach Kalen DeBoer stand this spring.
Pate was truthfully harsh about how bad the running attack was last season, but he suggested there was not "hot seat talk" regarding DeBoer before the 2026 season.
"They're not a long way off. It's not like that. Again, they made the conference title game and made the playoff last year,” Pate said during his "mood tracker" segment of the show.
"So there's not a freak out. There's no hot seat talk either. I have seen this, and here's the funny part about it."
DeBoer is 20-8 in his two seasons with the Crimson Tide. The team's struggles were well documented in the running game.
What was also well documented early this year was DeBoer's inability to land elite running back talent via the transfer portal.
Pate suggested any rumors of hot seat talk regarding DeBoer were manufactured.
“It's kind of reminiscent of like if you watched a fire truck with its alarms and its lights on, and it's rode around town all day searching for a fire," Pate said. "That's kind of like the hot seat questions with DeBoer.
"There's no fire. There is no actual hot seat talk... But there is this group of folks out there who want hot seat talk, and so they try and manufacture it. So I have seen that, but there is no real hot seat talk. There's a bunch of, 'Man, we got to do better."
Well, Alabama could have put any talk about DeBoer being on the hot seat if the school had agreed to a contract extension with the head coach.
In December, when rumors regarding DeBoer and Michigan were flying, reports surfaced that Alabama and DeBoer were in talks about a contract extension.
Since the Crimson Tide were embarrassed 38-3 by Indiana in the College Football Playoff, it's been pretty much crickets on that front.
The fact that there hasn't been smoke about the contract extension is proof enough that Alabama has more to see from DeBoer.
Let's put it this way, there seems to be good reason that the Crimson Tide would not want to add to DeBoer's buyout at this time.
Imagine what would happen if LSU and Lane Kiffin destroy Bama and DeBoer on Nov. 7?
As former NFL sports agent Ben Dogra has noted, DeBoer has struggled connecting with recruits based in the South, where Tuscaloosa is smack dab in the middle.
Until Alabama signs DeBoer to a contract extension that has been coming since December, consider the head coach on the hot seat.