Nick Saban stressed to Pat McAfee that Kalen DeBoer cannot attempt to replicate what the 17-year Alabama head coach did in Tuscaloosa. Instead, Saban stressed that DeBoer needs to bring his style to the Crimson Tide head coaching job.
And Saban thinks he will. And that it will work.
“I do think this is a tough transition for Kalen,” Saban said on the October 18 edition of The Pat McAfee Show. “Any time you take over a successful program — I don’t want to be judgmental about what they do, because I feel like he has to do what he does his way. He can’t be me. He can’t try to be somebody that he isn’t. I think there’s more than one way to skin a cat, and I actually the guy has been successful and I think his way will work.
“I think it’s an adjustment for a lot of fans and the people. But I think he’ll win them over because he’s a good guy and he’s a good coach. He’s got a good system, a good organization. I’m just trying to be supportive and helpful any way that I can so he can make a smooth transition.”
He has an Alabama football program in his first season that resembles one from the Nick Saban era. The Crimson Tide’s 2014 squad understands exactly what this Alabama team is enduring.
Kalen DeBoer was handed much more at Alabama than Nick Saban was in 2007
In one sense, DeBoer is on Saban’s trajectory. Just like Saban lost to Louisiana-Monroe in 2007, DeBoer now has his own unfathomable loss: a 40-35 loss to Vanderbilt as a three-score favorite.
Comparing the two situations isn’t fair, though. Specifically, it’s not fair to Saban.
DeBoer was handed two of the greatest recruiting classes (2021, 2023) ever, and while there were plenty of transfers once Saban’s retirement was announced, there was still more leftover talent than any new head coach has ever had.
DeBoer doesn’t have to be Saban. Realistically, he probably never could be. Saban built a dynasty at the University of Alabama. DeBoer just needs to keep it going.
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