Who’s under more pressure early: Kalen DeBoer at Alabama or Sherrone Moore at Michigan?

The pressure is always on in college football, especially when you’re in charge of a prestigious program.

Michigan and Alabama will have new head coaches in 2024, and the honeymoon period won’t last long. Sherrone Moore was promoted after Jim Harbaugh bolted for the Los Angeles Chargers. Kalen DeBoer is taking over for the retired Nick Saban. Both are replacing championship coaches.

Who’s under more pressure to succeed early? We’ll make a case for each.

Kalen DeBoer

Preseason prediction: Picked to finish third in the SEC .

Following Nick Saban was always going to be Mission: Impossible. With six national championships at Alabama and another at LSU, he’s the most successful coach in the history of the sport. Last season, he might have done his finest work guiding a less talented Crimson Tide squad to the College Football Playoff.

Depending on whom you believe, some high-profile coaches said no to succeeding Saban. DeBoer said Yes. Good luck to him. Being at the University of Washington is nothing like the cauldron of the SEC. The last time Alabama lost three games was in 2010, Saban’s fourth season. DeBoer went 9-3 in 2021 at Fresno State. It will not be pleasant if he loses three games in his first season in Tuscaloosa.

Alabama will only have five returning starters. But the expectation, even without Saban, is that they will always reload. The offense should be better this fall with Jalen Milroe established at quarterback and Justice Haynes having a bigger role. DeBoer got a lot of praise for Washington’s offense, and perhaps he can improve Alabama’s. The Crimson Tide could be 3-0 before its showdown against Georgia at home on Sept. 28.

Sherrone Moore

Preseason prediction: Picked to finish fourth in the Big Ten

Evaluating Moore depends on how you view his situation. Moore is already under the gun due to accusations of NCAA rule-breaking under Harbaugh’s troubled but successful final season. This, however, also gives him a built-in excuse if things go sideways. The specter of a possible suspension and/or show cause penalty will loom over the program all season. But there’s one way to keep the national media from talking about deleted text messages and Connor Stalions. The more Moore wins early, the less folks will focus on the cheating allegations.

Michigan lost 13 players to the draft, the most of any school . The Wolverines have only five returning starters. The biggest issue will be rebuilding the offensive line and finding a quarterback, with Alex Orji as the frontrunner . How quickly can the new players jell? That’s difficult to asses in a supersized Big Ten with Oregon, UCLA, USC, and Washington joining the now 18-team league.

Moore went 4-0 as acting coach when Harbaugh was suspended (twice) last year. He won’t be as fortunate this season. He could start the season 6-3 with tough games against Texas on Sept. 7, USC on Sept. 21, and Oregon on Nov. 2. The good news? All those games are in Ann Arbor.

The verdict

While Moore might have bigger and more immediate issues, Michigan will likely give him time to develop as a coach. For DeBoer, he must win now. That’s life in the SEC.

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