Kalen DeBoer opening arms to former Alabama players

Bryant-Denny Stadium was filled with stars from Alabama’s past, present and possibly future as the Crimson Tide took on the LSU Tigers.

Alabama beat LSU 20-9 in front of recruits and former Tide legends last Saturday, and in a busy recruiting week like this past one, Kalen DeBoer loves seeing all the guys that have built the program come back, saying it is exciting to see alumni like Tyler Booker coming back and being welcomed.

“Yeah, I love it,” DeBoer said. “This is their program. It’s ours all together, but they’re the ones that built this and made it what it is. Love that they want to come back and are proud of what they accomplished and hopefully proud of what we’re doing now. With so much recruiting and so forth, this week was probably one of those weeks where I didn’t get to see as many as I normally do, whether it’s pregame or during the day or even the weekend. Saw a few of them. [Tyler] Booker in particular, which is guy from last year’s team. He was around. That excites me because that’s what we want. You want alumni to always feel like this is always home and a place they can come back to and be welcome. Especially in the offseason, it’s a lot easier to do to, but just really integrate everyone together. Our players hearing the stories, understanding the history, you know, learning as well and how they can continue to be better because a lot of these guys that are coming back have been in the NFL and understand what that next step looks like, and that’s what our guys’ goals and dreams are.”

Players like Booker, JC Latham and Darrian Dalcourt were among the former players that came to the LSU game.

Quarterback Ty Simpson said it was great to see all of his former teammates, especially Booker as the two built a great relationship while Booker was in Tuscaloosa.

“Yeah, it was great,” Simpson said. “I hadn’t seen him since the draft. He’s gotten a little slimmer. He used to be big fat boy, but it was great to see him. That’s my best friend. Saw Darrion Dalcourt. Saw JC Latham. Three of my former teammates. It was great to see those guys back. I’m sure Book is sitting in my house in my recliner even though I told him that he shouldn’t be sitting in there, but yeah it was great.”

In case anyone is wondering if Booker was sitting in Simpson’s chair, Booker confirmed on X that he was indeed in the recliner.

On an unrelated note, even Los Angeles Dodgers manager and 2025 World Series Champion Dave Roberts was in attendance rocking Alabama gear. Roberts and DeBoer have become solid friends over the last few months, and the champ came to Tuscaloosa for Alabama’s game versus LSU.

“With Dave Roberts, a couple years ago, I got to go watch a Dodgers game with Alexis, my daughter. You know, she’s softball, so baseball, that piece right there and just fun to go there and watch a game. Got to spend some time with him in the clubhouse afterwards, and I was blown away at first of all how much time he gave me in the middle of his season. I know how hard as a coach myself, and then we’ve just stayed in touch this summer. I went up and saw him play up in Milwaukee. Again, we just stay in touch. I can’t help but notice how great of a job he does of bringing these guys together that he manages. They’re all great players, but he finds a way to have a role for each of them. Them have such a low ego and enjoying the process of what they’re doing and finding ways to win. The resilience it took obviously the last two years in both Worlds Series, it’s just amazing. I think there’s a lot of similarities in our styles maybe. There’s probably differences too. It’s a different sport. I got a lot of admiration for how he manages and how he gives his time and the presence he has when he walks into a room just really blows me away. Him coming here this last weekend was something that was on the docket going back quite some time, about a month or two ago, and so I was really looking forward to it. I think they had a great time watching the game, but we also had a great time taking a few nuggets to learn from to help us be better as coaches and players.”