2024 has been a wild yet successful here for Kalen DeBoer. After leading the Washington Huskies to the college football national championship game, he accepted the Alabama Crimson Tide head coaching vacancy shortly after.
Fast-forward to the end of June, and DeBoer now has half a year under his belt at the position. He has done it all, from coach practice to whole team meetings. During a sit-down interview with Adam Breneman on Up Next, the Alabama head coach revisited his thoughts and feelings on his first Crimson Tide team meeting.
“That was a Friday night, and [I] literally got offered the job that morning, mid-morning,” said DeBoer. “I got down here and got a chance to get in front of the guys and just tried to connect with them a little bit at that point. It was about nine 9:00 that night.”
“I think some were excited; some were trying to figure it out. A lot had happened in the previous 48 to 72 hours for them. So, everything after that, the next three or four days, was pretty crazy for them, especially just because we’re trying to build the staff and that doesn’t happen overnight… But that first meeting, I just tried to connect them a little bit and just tell them that I understood— you don’t understand fully until, I think, you’re here— what this place stood for, what there were each and every year.”
After taking over the program, DeBoer was able to prevent a mass exodus of players out of Tuscaloosa, Al. He did lose the likes of safety Caleb Downs and quarterback Julian Sayin, but he was able to bring in a pool of talent of his own, including a number of players who starred for him at Washington and one of the top defensive backs to enter the transfer portal this offseason, Domani Jackson, who played at USC last year.
Needless to say, the first few days after DeBoer accepted the Alabama head coaching position were a time of uncertainty for all individuals involved. However, since then, the new Crimson Tide head coach has been able to steady the ship and encourage the majority of the roster to buy into his vision. Now, all that needs to be done is to execute it on the field in 2024 and 2025 and lead Alabama into a new era of college football dominance.
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