Kalen DeBoer describes environment he wants at Alabama
Off the field, there aren’t many fan bases and places that care about their team quite like Tuscaloosa does for the Alabama Crimson Tide. And within the program, former head coach Nick Saban created an unrivaled culture in his 17 seasons with the team following his retirement in January.
Kalen DeBoer now takes over the Alabama program, a role that comes with great expectations from outsiders set by the previous head man along with a strong foundation also built by Saban. And recently at the Regions Tradition Pro-Am in Birmingham, DeBoer spoke with Greg McElroy and Cole Cubelic about the environment he’s now looking to create for the Crimson Tide players.
“I think the balance is making them feel like there’s an environment where they can feel great about their growth and excited about every day coming in and wanting to get better,” DeBoer said on McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning. “And then just also having an environment where there’s still just that level of just being uncomfortable, because I think that’s when your growth also happens is when you’re a little bit uncomfortable.”
Saban was arguably the king of tough love, known for never taking it easy on his players which resulted in six national champions during his time in Tuscaloosa and abundance an of players not just being selected in the NFL Draft. But also becoming some of the most successful players at the pro level in recent history.
DeBoer will look to breed similar success as he takes the reins of the program. Which he’s looked to so by achieving an equilibrium between making things hard on his players while also making them feel at home with the tools to achieve their goals.
“So being comfortable, being uncomfortable is something we talk about a lot. But I think our guys certainly, because of what they want to accomplish, they naturally have that and so we’re really pleased with the way they’ve pushed themselves and been really open and embrace everything we’ve thrown at them,” DeBoer said.
It will be fascinating to see what the Crimson Tide look like this upcoming season under DeBoer following nearly two decades under Saban. But what fans see on Saturdays in the fall will be a product of the work Alabama puts in this offseason within a nuanced culture that’s currently being tailored by DeBoer and his staff.