Kalen DeBoer spoke in his first press conference as the head coach of Alabama football last Saturday. Here are the three main takeaways.
1. DeBoer understands Alabama culture.
Replacing former head coach Nick Saban and his wife, Terry Saban, in Tuscaloosa means much more than just football, and DeBoer realizes that.
“I want to learn the stories. I want to learn all the great moments,” DeBoer said. “I know many of them. I’ve watched from afar, but I know there’s so many behind the scenes that I know are just as important to this tradition.”
DeBoer also said the crowd waiting for him and his family to arrive at the airport proved to him how special Alabama culture is, and he’s excited to continue bringing people together.
“There’s something special about being a head coach and the investment that goes into trying to make all the different pieces fit, having the right people in those places,” DeBoer said. “These facilities are awesome, but it’s the people that make the place special.”
At the end of his statement, DeBoer, who previously served as the head football coach at Washington, grew emotional detailing how much Seattle meant to him, so the fact that he left it for Tuscaloosa speaks volumes.
“I knew this was a thing not that I had to do, but that I really wanted to do,” he said. “That’s not a knock on Alabama and everything it stands for, that’s highlighting everything that I feel so strongly about back in Seattle.”
2. Championships are still attainable.
DeBoer mentioned championships, both SEC and national, several times throughout his press conference, and he said winning one will involve three things.
“We’re going to do it with class, with integrity, with academic excellence,” he said. “It’s my job to make sure we uphold the standard that has been set here at Alabama and continue to build on that.”
DeBoer said replacing a head coach who won six national championships and nine in the SEC is a privilege that he’s ready to accept.
“When I look at places that I want to be, it’s about winning championships,” DeBoer said. “That’s an expectation that I can’t wait, and accept as a privilege, to try to uphold.”
3. Player development is key to his goals.
Saban had a clear commitment to the development of his players, their growth as men and their commitment to academics. DeBoer said he also hopes to develop players “athletically, academically, socially and even spiritually.”
“In the end, we want to make sure we’re building better men because someday football will be over and someday real life will hit you in the face,” DeBoer said. “Building better men in this time that we’re going through, this phase in their life, it is one of the most influential that they will have. It is a privilege and an honor to be someone in a position that can have that influence, and I don’t take that lightly.”
