ATHENS — Kalen DeBoer and Nick Saban really are not all that different. In one way, in fact, they are very much alike.
They both win. A lot.
Other than that, Alabama’s football coach and his immediate predecessor could not be much more dissimilar. How so?
Let us count the ways:
- The Crimson Tide practiced in the afternoons for 17 years under Saban. They practice at 9 a.m. under DeBoer.
- Under Saban, assistant coaches never spoke to the media during the season. DeBoer’s coordinators meet the press every Monday now.
- Same thing with freshmen players. Julio Jones never spoke to reporters during his record-breaking freshman season with the Tide. Ryan Williams, Alabama’s sensational 17-year-old receiver, already has conducted interviews.
- Music now permeates the air at every Tide practice. Such an intrusion/distraction never before was allowed.
Those are only a few illustrations. There perhaps was no greater illustration of times being different in “T-Town” than one week into Alabama’s preseason camp. At the end of their first full-pads practice on a typically hot and humid early-August afternoon, Alabama players were surprised to hear the jingle of bells in the distance. Moments later, an ice cream truck drove through the gates to the practice field. The players were summoned to gather round have themselves a scoop or two.
That move garnered headlines across the state.
“Just rewarding us for working hard out here on the field,” wide receiver Germie Bernard, who followed DeBoer to Alabama from the University of Washington, explained to reporters.
Yes, times are a-changing in Tuscaloosa.
Here’s another difference: By all accounts, DeBoer hasn’t gone on a single press-conference rant. He actually conducts his weekly media sessions with a smile, rather than a scowl, no matter how dumb or repetitive a question might be.
To be clear, he has heard a lot of repeat questions. For instance, there is no telling how many times DeBoer has been asked how he feels about “following a legend” or how his ways and methods may be different than – or the same as – Saban’s. Yet he fields such queries every time as if he’s never heard it before.
DeBoer’s standard reply comes with a wink: “I’m taking still notes. He’s been here longer than I have.”
DeBoer has found himself answering such questions again this week. No. 4 Alabama is preparing to host No. 2 Georgia at Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday (7:30 p.m., ABC). Once again, Saban’s presence will be prominent in the proceedings.
For starters, the game will be conducted on what’s now known as Nick Saban Field. Saban was in attendance for the dedication before the season opener. This weekend, the retired Alabama coach known as The GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) again will be in Tuscaloosa, where he still owns a home and maintains an on-campus office.
But do not be fooled about that. Saturday’s game is all about DeBoer and Georgia coach Kirby Smart.
The narrative since Saban stepped down in January has been that his retirement opened the door for Smart to take over as the active GOAT of college football. Up until now, Saban was the only coach who fully has had Smart’s number during the Bulldogs’ rise to the top of Power Four food chain. Saban was 5-1 against his longtime assistant, ruining at least three potential championship seasons for Georgia in the process.
With Saban out of the way, what would be there to stop Smart?
Well, possibly DeBoer.
Though little was known regionally about the 49-year-old coach before the Crimson Tide tabbed him Saban’s successor, DeBoer’s record of success was long and extremely impressive. It actually started well before the native South Dakotan led the Washington Huskies to the 2023 national title game.
DeBoer enters Saturday’s game with 40-9 record as an FBS coach and 107-12 overall. His overall winning percentage as a college head coach – which includes stints at Fresno State and Sioux Falls (NAIA) – is .899. That exceeds even Smart’s gaudy mark (.858).
Smart said he wasn’t aware of DeBoer’s coaching prowess until former Georgia defensive coordinator Dan Lanning became head coach at Oregon. As fellow members of the now-two member Pac-12 Conference, the Ducks played the Huskies every year.
“I followed Dan a lot, and they had the big rivalry with them,” Smart said. “They went on to play Washington, I think once that (first) year and then twice the following year, and that’s when (DeBoer) started popping up on my radar.”
Lanning, who incorporates many of the tenets and football strategies of Smart, did not fare well against DeBoer’s Huskies. The Ducks were 0-3 against them.
Of course, none of that assures that DeBoer will have similar success at Alabama. Early returns, though, are encouraging. In getting off to a 3-0 start, the Crimson Tide has logged wins over Western Kentucky, South Florida and Wisconsin by a combined score of 147-26 and nearly doubled opponents in yards gained (1,400 to 744).
Saturday, however, brings DeBoer’s first real test. Alabama’s SEC opener comes against an opponent that has won 42 consecutive regular-season games and two of the past three national championships. The Bulldogs (3-0, 1-0 SEC) actually are a slight favorite, according to sports books.
“Welcome to the SEC, right?” DeBoer cracked. “Every game is a first for us. First road trip, first game in Bryant-Denny, first conference game.”
Those who have had their eyes on DeBoer for a while believe he’ll be up for the challenge, especially with the power of Alabama behind him.
“I’ve watched DeBoer for years, and he’s won everywhere he’s woke up,” said John Canzano, a Portland-based reporter and radio personality who has covered Pac-12 and West Coast football for decades. “His teams always get better as the season progresses. Every season, they improve at a rate that others just don’t. The job he did last season at Washington was a masterclass.”
Canzano covered all three games in which DeBoer’s Huskies bested Lanning’s Ducks, including the two that knocked Oregon out of playoff contention last year.
“Oregon outplayed his team in the first meeting in the regular season. The Ducks were the better and more physical team but lost after Dan Lanning went for broke on fourth down,” Canzano said. “Seven weeks later, the same teams met again in the conference championship game, and Washington wasn’t just a little better — it was physically dominant. I suspect DeBoer took great satisfaction out of turning that weakness into a strength.”
Alabama’s strength coming into Saturday’s game is an explosive offense powered by quarterback Jalen Milroe. Milroe is thought to have benefited more than any other Crimson Tide player from DeBoer’s appointment. DeBoer’s coaching reputation has been built on creating dynamic offenses built around dual-threat quarterbacks. Physically, Milroe the 6-foot-2, 225-pound looks to be a slightly larger version of Washington’s 6-2, 216-pound Michael Penix Jr. Penix won the Maxwell Award and became the No. 8 overall pick of the Falcons.
Milroe earned MVP honors in beating No. 1-ranked Georgia in the SEC Championship game in December. Smart said the Alabama quarterback looks even better under DeBoer.
“He’s very thick and very hard to tackle, but yet has a bazooka for an arm,” Smart said of Milroe. As for DeBoer’s offense, Smart said, “every play is a ticking time bomb. They’ve got explosive playmakers in backs, receivers, and then a quarterback that can extend a play from four seconds to eight seconds.”
Smart ties to Alabama remain deep. He lived and worked there for nine years under Saban. So, he is well-informed when it comes to the transition to this new guy from out West.
Smart said he’s heard nothing but good things. But it has been DeBoer’s ability to incorporate his own style and philosophies into the existing culture at Alabama that has impressed him most.
“I think he’s very confident in what he does, in his organizational methods, and I think it takes that in the situation he’s in,” Smart said. “You’ve got be pretty confident in your own skin to go in there and do things your way, especially with the record they’ve had. It seems like he’s done that without any issue.”
So far, at least.
Saturday is the true test for DeBoer. Everything has been cake to this point. But DeBoer came to the SEC for the very reasons he will experience Saturday in Tuscaloosa. That is, facing off against the nation’s top coach in a top-five clash on national television, with ESPN’s “College GameDay” set up on campus.
This is new ground for DeBoer, even if it’s not for Alabama or Georgia.
“You come here to Alabama to be a part of games that gather a lot of attention, to be in an atmosphere and an environment that’s just special and different,” DeBoer said. “So, embrace it. Embrace the challenges, embrace the things that are going to come our way against great football teams.
“We came here, all of us, on different journeys. Players, staff, came here in different ways to be a part of something like what you’re going to see on Saturday.”
Should the Tide win, perhaps there will be ice cream.
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