Football players at the University of Alabama are drawn to this new energy and do not want to go.
Nick Saban was nothing short of legendary in his 17 seasons in Tuscaloosa (Ala.), but Kalen DeBoer is prepared to build on the foundation of championships. He is an offensive mind, but the 49-year-old cares about the defense having success too.
When Saban announced his retirement, there was a projected 72-hour window to find the next Crimson Tide head coach.
Greg Byrne, Alabama’s athletics director, found him in 40 hours. It has a whirlwind for DeBoer since Jan. 10; however, he has handled everything well. DeBoer had his first “Hey Coach” show on Monday and a few players were on it.
Tyler Booker, a junior offensive lineman, felt comfortable around DeBoer from the moment he arrived. The veteran left guard spoke about DeBoer’s impact to Roger Hoover of Crimson Tide Sports Network. He loves the situation the Tide is in going into the upcoming season.
“He was very big on family and big on relationships,” Booker said about DeBoer. “That made me very comfortable with him being our head coach because that was the difference between 2022 and 2023. We did a lot more team activities, I feel like there was a lot more togetherness with the 2023 team. I was focus on our relationship becoming more as a family, and with those being the first words out of Coach DeBoer’s mouth … it made me feel more comfortable bringing him in as the head coach.”
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DeBoer has a strong focus on family. At Washington, he cared for his players and coaching staff as if they were his family.
That’s the reason Parker Brailsford, Germie Bernard, Josh Cuevas, Austin Mack, Nick Sheridan, and JaMarcus Shephard departed the Huskies to play for Alabama in order to join him. The program was transformed by DeBoer’s atmosphere at Washington, where it went on to win the Pac-12 and make it to the College Football Playoff National Championship Game the previous season.
