Bama’s DeBoer: ‘Blessing’ to be part of program

• Andrea Adelson, ESPN Senior WriterJul 17, 2024, 12:00 PM ET

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  • ACC press reporter.
  • Joined ESPN.com in 2010.
  • Graduate of the University of Florida.DALLAS– Kalen DeBoer

has been Alabama coach for 6 months, sufficient time to get settled into his brand-new job and the enormous expectations that come with it.He would not have it any other way.During his press conference Wednesday at SEC Media Day, he was asked what it resembled following Nick Saban, who returned the Crimson Tide to elite status throughout his 17 seasons in Tuscaloosa, winning 6 national titles and 9 SEC championships.”I understand there’s only one Coach Saban,” DeBoer said.” There will only ever be one Coach Saban.

This program is special, and I take it as a great honor to be the one that gets to do whatever we can to continue the fantastic tradition.”However for me personally, it was just more about comprehending that coaching football is coaching football. It’s been simply an incredible true blessing to be a part of this program, to continue to have that expectation on us. The alternative is to be at locations where there aren’t expectations.”Editor’s Picks 2 Related DeBoer knows what it is like to be at schools without the outsized expectations. In nine seasons as a head coach NAIA Sioux Falls,

Fresno State and

Washington, DeBoer is 104-12. His rise from Sioux Falls has been well recorded, as he operated in anonymity there to begin his profession, first as offending coordinator, then as head coach from 2005-09. His task responsibilities were numerous, though he did clarify Wednesday he never drove the team bus. “I love how the stories improve and better of all the obligations I had,”he said.”I did not drive the bus.

But that’s what the stories and the legends will be down the roadway. I understand this: I would not trade my journey for anything. It offers me an appreciation for where I’m at. It gives me an appreciation for the people I have around me and all the jobs that they have due to the fact that there was a time where you dealing with devices and doing things in the locker space, pretty much a [graduate assistant], an offensive coordinator and a head coach all at the exact same time. “DeBoer eventually moved into FBS football and ultimately landed at Washington in 2022, going 25-3 and taking the Huskies to the national championship game last season.Though this is the 8th school he has actually worked for, this is the very first time DeBoer has actually coached in the South. Asked how he has adjusted to a new region of the nation, DeBoer quipped, “I sweat a lot more. It’s hot.”He said the “great people in Tuscaloosa,”and their enthusiasm for football, has actually “really made this shift smooth and

enjoyable. “”It most likely is close to being the place that advises me the most of being back in South Dakota, simply the people,”

DeBoer said.As for the group he inherited from Saban, DeBoer said what has stood out the most is their”trust and belief.””Their chemistry and their trust and belief is one thing, and the responsibility, as well. These guys, they know they need each other to reach the goals that we have as a program, “DeBoer said.