He loved the support he got from Alabama football fans when he arrived in January and he enjoyed the offseason growth of the team, but now he is ready to create his own legacy.
Kalen DeBoer was not afraid to leave Washington when he got the chance to be the next Crimson Tide head coach.
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He follows an iconic legend in Nick Saban, but DeBoer wanted that pressure. He came off coaching in a College Football Playoff National Championship Game, a place the Tide has not been in two years. DeBoer was embraced by fans the moment he arrived at the Tuscaloosa (Ala.) Regional Airport, but he is prepared to continue success his way. He studied what Saban did, yet his style is different. DeBoer was able to get a coaching staff together, convince current players to stay, maintain the majority of the Crimson Tide’s 2024 recruiting class, get five-star Ryan Williams to recommit and sign, and get on the recruiting trail himself.
He has his first game Saturday versus Western Kentucky, but DeBoer had an interview spot with ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt first.
DeBoer said there will never be another Saban, but he knows how to keep the success going.
“What he did here was unbelievable,” DeBoer said about Saban. “The championships, the way they were won, just doing it with class, all of it was top-tier stuff. For me, you have to understand how you got to this point. Everyone is their own person and no matter who came in here, they were going to have their own style. It is going to be a little different, but I can’t say enough about how a lot of the infrastructure, the foundation because of the success it is easier to regenerate quickly with the success at programs like this. I found that and been fortunate to be at a number of places, you know, that’s what it takes and it’s that foundation.”
Alabama had decades of success with Saban and Paul W. “Bear” Bryant, and DeBoer wants longevity too.
He begins his journey this weekend for the Crimson Tide.
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Stephen M. Smith is the senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @CoachingMSmith.
