It’s never easy to replace a legend, with everything you do being compared to the person that came before you. However, that’s exactly what Kalen DeBoer is trying to do as he takes over the Alabama Crimson Tide program from Nick Saban.
It might be easy to try and distance himself from Saban but DeBoer hasn’t done that to this point. In fact, he’s leaving the door open for Saban and Alabama’s former players to be around the program, arguing that the program is all of theirs now.
“I think it’s all about being excited to be here,” Kalen DeBoer said at the SEC spring meetings. “Because what this program’s accomplished over not just Coach Saban’s time in the last 17 years, but over many decades and the great coaches, the great players and staffs that have been a part of this, these great teams.”
Nick Saban’s success at Alabama is well-documented but that doesn’t make it any less impressive. He won 201 games with the Crimson Tide in 17 seasons under Saban. During that time, Alabama won the SEC nine different times to go with six national championships.
It’s going to be almost impossible for Kalen DeBoer to replicate that success. However, he does want to build on it and make sure that the two coaches’ tenures are bridged together well.
“And just building on it. I think there’s always areas and ways where you can take what the foundation is and continue to add to it in your own way. I, of course, got to be who I am and be true to that, and put a staff around me that I think complements myself, the different strengths, the areas that we’re, you know, need guys in different roles. You know, whether it be your offensive staff, your defensive staff, and just having everyone pulling in the same direction, I think, is a strength of mine and helping them do that,” DeBoer said.
“So, you know, it’s been awesome embracing everything that Coach Saban has done for this program and really celebrating what he’s accomplished over that time. And I know we have a full roster of players that were recruited specifically, yes, to come to Alabama, but also to play for Coach Saban as their head coach. And so I understand that fully as well. I want to make sure that that connection is always there and that they always feel like they can reach out to the coach that recruited them, you know, at the beginning, and also that Coach Saban knows he’s always got an open door to the program as well.”
Ultimately, Kalen DeBoer is leaving the door open to Nick Saban continuing to associate with the Alabama program in some way. It just comes down to how much Saban wants to be around the program during his retirement.
“You know, I refer to it a few different times,” DeBoer said. “This is our program. You know, when I say ours, it’s all those people that have been a part of it for many years. That, of course, includes Coach Saban.”
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