It has been a rapid climb up the college football head coaching ladder for the Alabama Crimson Tide’s new head coach, Kalen DeBoer. Although he has held multiple coordinator positions throughout his coaching journey, his first head coaching opportunity came in 2020 at Fresno State. And now, he leads arguably the biggest college football power in a little under five years.
During a recent interview on Up Next with Adam Breneman, DeBoer Revisited his time as the Bulldogs head coach, evaluating his growth from then to now.
“That year was a tough one, right, just because it was COVID,” DeBoer said. “But I think there just continues to be more verification over and over again of how you do things. Also, that year, there was just so much adjustments. And you really had to become efficient in some things because the season, the time together was shortened drastically; you found out some of the things that you’ve done that you thought were really important for 20 years as a coach, maybe weren’t the priority. Then you also saw the things that really brought a team together.”
In just four seasons, DeBoer went from heading the Fresno State program to leading the Washington Huskies to a berth in the College Football Playoff national championship game. Although that game did not end the way in which she would have liked, being crowned national champions of the college football world, it was still an impressive climb. So much so that he put him on the radar for Alabama, which just so happened to be in the market for its head coach after the surprising retirement of Nick Saban following the 2023 season.
What DeBoer practices and preaches at each of his coaching stops doesn’t just come from his time as a coach or coordinator. The Alabama headman also reminisced about his time as a player, revealing that he still takes lessons from that era of his life and applies them today.
“[I] continue to emphasize those things that I’ve felt, when I was a player, took us from being a 2-8 team my freshman year to being a 14-0 team,” said DeBoer. “And I saw firsthand with the culture looked like at the beginning and what it looked like at the end, as a player. Those are the things I’ve taken at different places that we’ve grown programs, sometimes as a coordinator but also as a head coach… I think it’s just reemphasizing, as you come into a program, focusing on the most important things and those priorities, and it still revolves around the guys.”
DeBoer undoubtedly has some huge shoes to fill when it comes to taking over for Saban, who won six national championships under his leadership. However, if the Crimson Tide’s new head coach can apply his previous message to its current home, he may be able to start his own era of greatness in Tuscaloosa.
The post Kalen DeBoer looks back on his evolution since taking Fresno State job appeared first on On3.
