Kalen DeBoer describes how he handles the pressure of coaching at Alabama

There are only a handful of jobs in the country with pressure similar to Alabama. That’s something Kalen DeBoer has learned all about over the last two seasons, and has been exacerbated for him by virtue of following the legendary Nick Saban there.

This season, the pressure was immediately dialed up to 10 when Alabama opened with an upset loss against Florida State. The Crimson Tide played poorly, and there quickly were rumors that the team wasn’t as focused as it should have been. Meanwhile, experts put DeBoer on the hot seat while other fans publicly lamented that they’d pay his buyout if they won the lottery.

Alabama hasn’t lost since then and now DeBoer seems to have righted the ship. Still, he knows and feels that pressure all the time, and he explained during a recent appearance on Bussin’ With The Boys how he tries to handle that pressure.

“I think first of all, going back to what you said right away,” Kalen DeBoer said. “The noise that’s real — we get it. You make your own bed. I mean, we didn’t play well, but I think the noise that people just want to make things up and [isn’t] real, about what’s going on the night before that are completely false and [not] factual, those are the things just that just add to the chip on your shoulder that I’ve held onto, I know our team’s held onto, and aren’t who we are. It’s not the character of us. These guys are all in and are doing the right things.”

Since the loss to Florida State, Alabama has gone 4-0. That notably includes a road win against Georgia and a home win against Vanderbilt. Both were ranked when they played, and in the case of Vanderbilt, is an opponent who DeBoer lost to a season ago. So, the message to his team has worked and the Crimson Tide put the Week 1 loss behind them.

“So, that’s what I remind them of. Again, we can’t control what everyone else wants to run with. Whatever storyline or how they feel. Again, we’ve just kept enough of it alive because we don’t want to take away the focus from what’s really important. That’s our preparation when we step on the football field tomorrow at practice, and that’s what really matters. My message to the guys wasn’t one of an edge,” DeBoer said.

“But also one that said we did some things that kind of made our own bed. We’ve got to respond, we’ve got to be better, and we know we can be better. We can control that. That’s the fortunate thing. So, do you believe in what we’ve got? Do you believe in the talent? Do you believe in the staff, and does the staff believe in the players? And I think the response has been that we do.”

Ultimately, pressure is part of being a head coach regardless of where you are. That may be exacerbated at Alabama, but it hasn’t kept DeBoer from wanting that job and to work with the players there.

“I love coaching these guys. I really do. There’s an excitement about going to battle with these guys. We’ve proven it to us, and that’s what it starts with,” DeBoer said. “But I also know that there’s an edge where we’re proving it to everyone else too.”

Kalen DeBoer and Alabama can’t afford to take it easy from here. Four of Alabama’s next five games are against ranked opponents. That includes a road trip to Missouri this week. Of course, losing those games would see that pressure once again crank up for the Crimson Tide and their head coach.