Kalen DeBoer gives opinion on Alabama helmet, potential alternate

Alabama has one of the more traditional looks in college football, specifically with regards to its helmet. The all-crimson with the player’s number in white has been a staple of the program for decades, pairing with its home and away uniforms. Even so, there’s a section of the Crimson Tide fan base that has expressed desire to switch things up and wear a white helmet.

Current head coach Kalen DeBoer gave his opinion on the matter, saying the thought has yet to cross his mind. Right now, his main focus is going out there and representing the crimson helmet the right way by capping off the regular season with three wins.

“Just the tradition and everything that surrounds the crimson helmets, hasn’t even been something I think a second about,” DeBoer said during Wednesday’s SEC Coaches Teleconference. “There’s just a lot of pride in who we are. I’m sure that somewhere in the history, you can point to different color helmets being worn. Maybe someone is for that but right now, we’re just keeping our focus on the main thing and that’s our play on the field and representing the crimson helmet in the best way possible.”

White helmets were last worn by Alabama in the 1980s and occasionally in the decades prior. Getting them to return has been a hot-button topic around Tuscaloosa for a while now. Nick Saban made his stance on the matter pretty clear when he was coaching, not wanting to mess with any of the program’s traditions.

“We wear the same uniform,” Saban said in 2022. “They want to wear white helmets. Everybody wants to do this and that. To me, there’s an expectation that when we run out of the tunnel, this is the brand. This is the culture. This is what people expect to see.”

DeBoer does have experience with mixing up jerseys during his time at Fresno State and Washington. While in Seattle, the Huskies were required to wear a different helmet for at least one game. But even if Alabama did want to bring white helmets back, the process would take some time.

“A lot of these things, they don’t happen overnight either,” DeBoer said. “I’m not trying to lead on like I’m even thinking about it but sometimes, it takes a year to get a jersey here. The gear you wear here on the sidelines or the gear you order for your players, the same thing with all this other stuff that comes with gameday attire as well.”