The Alabama Crimson Tide are improving under Kalen DeBoer, but improvement is not the same as acceptance. That is the challenge facing Alabama entering the 2026 college football season. Progress may satisfy most programs, but Alabama is not judged by ordinary standards. Through two seasons, the results suggest a program moving in the right direction. Alabama improved from nine wins in DeBoer’s first season to 11 wins and a return to the College Football Playoff in his second. For nearly every other program in the country, that trajectory would be viewed as proof that the transition is working. In Tuscaloosa, it is still viewed as incomplete. That is because Alabama is not chasing relevance. It is chasing a standard established by Nick Saban, and that standard is unlike anything else in modern college football. Six national championships in 17 seasons did not just elevate the program. It redefined what sustained dominance looks like. That is both DeBoer’s greatest advantage and his biggest burden.…