Everything Kalen DeBoer said to kick off Auburn game week

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer spoke to reporters on Monday of Auburn week. Here is everything he said to kick off the final week of the regular season.

DeBoer’s opening statement…

“I know you heard from the coordinators, and again, kind of recapping, I think everything they probably hit on, or you asked, just a good weekend. One last shoutout to our seniors being able to honor them, recognize them, they mean a lot to this program, they mean a lot to me. For them to be able to do their job, to be able to get a lot of other guys on the football field, was something we got a chance to highlight even in the locker room. The guys had fun with afterwards, talking about some of the plays that were made by guys that haven’t seen the field yet or very minimal time, minimal opportunities.

“Good to see Qua Russaw on the football field a little bit. That was something we’ve been working towards. Happy for him, happy for us there.

“So, onto the Iron Bowl. I know what that means to the state here. A huge deal for us as well. It’s a big game for a lot of reasons. We just focus on what it is, and it’s our big rivalry game. It’s an SEC game on the road. It’ll be an awesome environment, just blessed to be a part of it, especially here on this Thanksgiving week that’s what you think about it, there’s so much we have, and these guys getting this opportunity to go and play in a special place like that in front of so many fans and people watching on TV, just a really cool moment and we’ve got to seize it and take advantage of it.”

DeBoer on the challenges of playing at Auburn…

“Rivalry game, amazing environment. We’ve played in amazing environments throughout the year on the road at night. I get it. We understand it’s going to be a great experience there, and it’ll be one where we’re facing a team that wants to knock us off our goals and our hopes and all that. But you’ve really got to simplify it down. You’ve got to prepare. Prepare for the noise, prepare for the emotions that come, and that’s what our season’s done for us. We’ve been through a lot of that, and again, there’ll be new challenges that present themselves in the game, and a lot of it will be a new matchup, guys that have different people in front of them, strengths and weaknesses of the opponent, every single week changes. We’re just going to prepare our best, focus on what we do because that’s what we’ve done all season long to go out there and be our best on Saturday.”

DeBoer on Auburn’s defensive front…

“They’ve got a great combination of size, athleticism up front. They understand their defensive scheme well. They attack. I think you can see there’s a lot of trust. Then you get to the linebackers. They can run really well. They attack as well. It’s a team defense. Coach Durkin has done a great job, not just leading the team now, but over the past couple of years, putting together a defensive scheme and a mindset that they have. A lot of respect for what they do. 

DeBoer on Josh Cuevas; getting tight ends opportunities vs. EIU…

“With Josh, we’ll just keep evaluating him here throughout this week.

“And that was certainly intentional with getting some guys some action out there even with the way Coach Grubb called the game, just making sure we got some reps, whether it be run game, pass game. You’ve got to attack the defense you’re seeing. I thought we did a good job of getting those guys in spots. Testing them. A lot of it’s been building up over the course of the year. You’ve seen Kaleb out there all season long. It’s a combination of guys you’re really focused on as much as anything. I thought Marshall did a nice job. Brody did a nice job. Jay did a nice job as well in their roles. Just getting them more snaps. We get better with reps. It doesn’t matter who we are. That’s what we’re trying to do for those guys.”

DeBoer on the differences in Auburn under DJ Durkin…

“I think probably offensively, maybe you can see maybe a little bit of a philosophical change just with the offense and what they’re trying to do. Maybe that as much as anything. They seem to be playing free and putting up a lot of points in the last two weeks.” 

DeBoer o Kaleb Edwards; his advice to freshmen for their first Iron Bowl…

“There’s been so many snaps that these guys played — Dijon, Lotzeir. I mean, we can go down the row, Michael Carroll. I think that’s what you’re getting to here with the question is we’ve done that all year long. Really, Kaleb, I can think of the big catch in a moment for me, he caught a crossing route against Georgia in a tight window there. Number one, Ty’s trusting him, and then Kaleb going across really fearless. Kaleb was a guy that didn’t come to us until really this summer. Most of our guys early enrolled. Seeing him be able to get on the field early in the year and do what he’s doing, again, every rep matters to him because these guys that have been all year going back to January, they understood our culture, they were part of our weight program.

“I’m just really proud of these guys. Not just now, but it sheds light on what we feel about what the future’s going to be whether it’s your quarterbacks— they got a chance to be out on the football field and do their thing. Our offensive linemen, Jackson Lloyd got the chance to go out there and do his thing as well. Just really excited about the future. Obviously, we’re in the moment, we’re in the present, and those guys are going to be ready to play. They’ve made a ton of plays all season long, and we’re confident. We wouldn’t put them out there if we weren’t.”

DeBoer on his favorite Thanksgiving side…

“Yeah, I’m pretty traditional when it comes to the Thanksgiving piece, going way back, so you’re normal stuff. Thanksgiving when you think about it, that’s what I’m all about.” 

DeBoer on Alabama’s run game, freshman AK Dear…

“You mentioned AK. AK, when he gets out there, you can see the things he does explosive-wise, ball in his hands. And again, more reps, and I thought Saturday was a great opportunity for him. I thought he took advantage of it. Another freshman that has a great future for us in our program.”

DeBoer on players’ reactions to Conor Talty getting booed…

“I think the biggest thing was just everyone in general, you’re always, you’re human, right? People are gonna make mistakes. I make mistakes. We all make mistakes. It’s the response in the things that he did. He made it right with his teammates. He talked to them, and that’s what we can do. We move on. We right the wrongs, and now we just focus on what we can do, and that’s go be your best. That’s what he does in practice. And when I say our guys got his back, I’ve seen players, I’ve seen myself have reactions to things you don’t like on the field, off the field, whatever it might be, things we want back. And once it’s done, you can’t, you don’t. All you can do is, make sure you communicate, talk to the people that it affected and continue to move on. He had a great week of practice last week. He’s still really hitting the ball well. Just gonna keep working. We’re gonna need him throughout the rest of the year. I know he’s going to give everything. He cares about this team a lot.”

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