Saturday will be a day off for the rest of Alabama, but not Kalen DeBoer.
Shortly after being introduced as the 28th head coach of the Crimson Tide, DeBoer was rushed off for staff meetings in what will continue to be a busy month for the former Washington lead man.
One big task on his to-do list is to keep Alabama’s key members out of the transfer portal.
Starting wide receiver Isaiah Bond was the first to enter the portal following Nick Saban’s retirement and was trailed by young defensive back Antonio Kite on Saturday making DeBoer’s timeline even more accelerated to fill out a coaching staff so Alabama can remain in contact with it’s whole team.
But DeBoer had a pitch that he gave to the team during his first meeting late Friday night and he shared that pitch with the media during his brief availability following his introduction as head coach.
“I try to show them a little bit of my vision,” DeBoer said. “But I’ve also told them I understand that you can’t buy into my vision until you truly know me. So just give me a chance. Give me a chance to show you a few of the things. I’m gonna listen to you. I’m gonna meet you where you’re at right now and try to show them through some proof of things that have happened whether it’s at Washington, or we haven’t gotten into much beyond that, but what this will look like.
“How great it will be to be out there on the football field because of what we’re doing schematically, because of the people that are gonna be around you as you show up in the weight room for that workout and the people that around you from a coaching staff standpoint developing you. Show them that you know their development and what we’ve done with guys moving onto the NFL in the past and how we do that, that is special.”
When Saban retired the transfer portal reopened for Alabama players for 30 days, so DeBoer’s efforts to fill out a staff and to drive his message home to the team will be that much more important for the remainder of the month.
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Patrick Dowd is a Reporter for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter, via Pat_Dowd77
