At 1 p.m. CT from the north end zone of Bryant-Denny Stadium, the University of Alabama introduced its 28th head football coach, Kalen DeBoer.
DeBoer arrives in Tuscaloosa as one of the hottest names in college football after transforming what had been a 4-8 Washington team in 2021 into a squad that went 25-3 record over the past two seasons, including playing for a national championship earlier this week.
DeBoer began his introductory press conference by thanking Greg Byrne and other Alabama officials but quickly moved to thank Nick Saban for the program he has built. He smartly let coach Saban know he is always welcome around the program and the facility, saying “100% access to everything. If I didn’t, I’d be a fool”.
DeBoer showed great command of the room with confidence in his vision while remaining humble in his delivery.
Coach DeBoer spoke of his non-negotiables: The biggest was toughness. If Alabama fans want to see anything from their football team, it’s toughness through adversity.
It was hard not to come away impressed with coach DeBoer considering the position he is replacing the greatest college football coach of all time.
Roll Tide Wire will have more on coach DeBoer’s first press conference as the head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide.