Kalen DeBoer can’t help but feel ‘confident’ in replacing Nick Saban at Alabama

Kalen DeBoer has succeeded at every stop he’s been at in his coaching career, but his toughest task awaits.

The new Alabama coach is set to succeed Nick Saban, who I believe is the greatest coach in the history of our sport, and has the tall order of living up to the expectations that Saban brought during his 17-year tenure in Tuscaloosa, which included six national championships. 

As DeBoer prepares for his first season at Alabama, he joined me for the latest episode of “Big Noon Conversations.” He detailed the timeline of the week that began with him losing the national title game as Washington’s coach and ended with him becoming Alabama’s next head coach. We also discussed DeBoer’s level of confidence to win at any level and what his first interactions were like with his new Alabama players.

(Read more from “Big Noon Conversations:” Sherrone Moore, Steve Sarkisian, Deion Sanders, Matt Rhule, Ryan Day)

Here’s a snippet of my conversation with DeBoer: 

Your path is unique. I sat with you at Indiana and covered some of your teams when you were the offensive coordinator at Indiana. You go to Fresno State and, obviously, there was your success at Washington. Let me go back to the last time we sat together, five years ago, when you were at Indiana with a young quarterback named Michael Penix. If I told that guy, that day, “In five years, you’re going to take over for Nick Saban at the University of Alabama,” what would you have said?

I would have been really surprised that things worked out in a special way. But I also know that anything is possible and it really wouldn’t have been about reaching that goal if I did this, this and this. It would have been just about pouring everything into the moments you’re in at that time. So yeah, it’d been a little bit crazy if you’d have said that. But I also know that anything’s possible.

I learned that way back, being at the University of Sioux Falls, where a place like that really had no business at one point winning national championships, even at the small college level. So, anything’s possible. I’m very blessed to certainly be in this spot and a lot of great things have fell into place. I’ve been around a lot of great people.

How about the craziness of the post-national championship game? You have an incredible season at Washington, culminating in two undefeated teams facing off in the national championship game. It was a great game and [Michigan] outlasted you guys to win the national championship. You’re coming off that on Jan. 8. On Jan. 10, Nick Saban steps away. It’s the biggest domino there is in our sport in a coaching sense. By Jan. 12, you’re the head coach here. Can you start with the day after the national championship game? What was your reaction when Coach Saban retired and how quickly did this become a possibility?

Well, we stayed overnight after the championship and the next day was a travel day. There were some guys that were making their final decisions on that team with whether they’re going to move on to the NFL. So that communication is happening, and you wake up and you got a sick feeling in your stomach just because we came up short. You wanted the dreams and goals that we all had and the work that had been put in to be realized in a national championship. So, you’re licking your wounds a little bit, working on the next season. 

Then, I just remember that morning, Wednesday, realizing, “Hey, you’re feeling sorry for yourself, but get up and let’s go attack the day. Let’s make that happen.” I specifically remember that. So, a lot of meetings with our players that morning, early afternoon and that’s kind of what that routine was. Of course, the news with Coach Saban hitting, I knew nothing at that time and whether I’d be approached. But I just knew that there’s always the names that get thrown out there and that would be a distraction to Washington and in the team I was trying to continue to put together and you’re already in mid-January.

So, that’s what was in my mind. Then, by late that night, the opportunity was put in front of [me] to talk to Greg Byrne and just really the next 48 hours being about that, the interview, the opportunity to actually be the head coach, all the emotions that go along with the decision, then having to talk to everyone at Washington and then get down here quick to be in this room to talk to the team, which had been going through a lot of things on their own. 

There’s a lot of a lot of emotions. Probably the one thing that I just wish really could have happened there is that you have a chance to celebrate what was an amazing season. Things got flipped so quickly, unfortunately, that the players, in particular, but also the fan base, just really not being able to celebrate all the success that had gone into that season or even the previous two combined.

You’re 104-12 in your career as a head coach. No one else touches that. Even though you’re following the guy, do you have a level of confidence that you know how to win, regardless of where you’re at?

I do. I think that – and hopefully it doesn’t come across in an arrogant way – you just know that if you pour everything you got into the right things and the right people, and you have the right support around you, that it can be done. I’ve been at great places, all those places that have led to that record have been great places with great support, great people and, of course, great players who you bring in that want to do something together. 

That’s what this is all about. That’s what Alabama is all about and Greg Byrne showing me that vision, how it’s been done and seeing this can continue on in this place. Coach Saban has built it up to be something, just like many others before him, to where it’s greater than one person. His face and the legacy he leaves, being the best of the best, will certainly live on forever, but he’s built this place up to be bigger than one person. 

Coming in, I’m very careful with that task, with that responsibility. I understand it, and you’re paying attention to all the cues and why things were the way they were in this decision and why this routine and schedule was in place. There’s a reason. Certainly, with my experiences and what I’ve been through, I feel confident. You’re never going to be perfect, no one is, but we take those experiences and continue to build here.

Who did you talk to for advice during that really tight window when you were interviewing for the job?

First and foremost, it was my family. We loved where we were at and that was the hardest thing. Life was really good at Washington, the people around us and my daughter is going to college there. She’s a senior who just graduated from high school. So a lot of things just perfectly aligned and that’s where it started.

But getting that blessing there to look into this and understand more was from them. I think there’s a couple friends that you [get] some perspective on because they know me. Then, there’s some people in the professional world, and I don’t really want to get into those people, but a few that understand what this job is, what being a head coach at the Power 5 level is and what this is all about. So, reaching out to a few of them that understand what this would feel like, look like and just really getting their support was important to me.

Everyone says, “You don’t want to be the guy that follows the guy.” Did anybody say, “Hey, I don’t know about this?”

Those particular people know me, so they understood it really wasn’t about that. But yeah, I’ve heard that. I mean, not 100 times, I’ve heard that thousands of times, which I get. But you really never make it about that. You just, again, full circle with what I said earlier, you make it about these players, and when you pour into the right things, the right things will happen to you. I just believe that.

How involved do you think Coach Saban was? What was your first interaction with him like?

I’m sure that there was a conversation or two. I’m not aware of those conversations, but the places I’ve been when you pour everything you have into that place, so Washington and Fresno State, and it’s going in a good direction, you want it to continue on. I want those programs – Sioux Falls and even Eastern Michigan, Indiana – what you did and pour into that to continue on, to experience and grow. It will still come back to “Hey, that time in history and past where you did your part to make it what it is today and into the future.” 

So, I’m very confident that Coach [Saban] would have had some thoughts because he wants it to continue to be at a high level.

I don’t think anybody, anywhere, including me, would think that you’d be sitting here unless he gave at least a nod in that direction. 

I did reach out to him even before I was offered the job officially. That morning, which I think would have been a Friday morning, the cool connection there was Don James. It was really the first time Coach [Saban] and I had ever talked and just hearing him talk about that relationship, what that meant to him and the things that he learned even during that time. I know what Don James meant to Washington and where I was at. It was really a cool connector time to get that conversation going. 

But then I heard him talk a lot about just the program and getting to know each other just a little bit.

Have you thought about the fact that he will be around and not just in Tuscaloosa, but he’s going to have a platform and a voice, where everyone in America is going to want to know what he thinks about what you’re doing? Have you thought about that?

We’re gonna be at a high standard no matter what. That’s Bama football. I think, shoot, just another person that has done it well, that you want to really help make proud of what they’ve put into it. That’s what we’re trying to do here. We’re trying to make everyone who came before us proud of what happened.

The alumni, of course, the fan base, but all these nice coaches that have poured everything into making the championships happen here, we want to make them proud. We want to continue to build this program where those that come after us got an even better foundation than what was here before.

I’m fascinated because when he did leave, he also had some very pointed comments about where we are in the sport. I know that people took it as specific to this locker room, but I think it was part and parcel of what the sport and the structure of the sport has created in every locker room. What was your first interaction like with the team when you first got in front of them?

I knew how important it was just to give them a couple of nuggets, they weren’t going to hear everything, because they were just trying to get a gauge of who this person is in front of them. But I think it was positive. I think they felt there was some energy.

I tried connecting with them on what they had just been through, not even with the coaching change, but going to a semifinal game and coming up short with me coming up short with the team in Washington. I think it was something that over the next couple of weeks at least helped us connect. I called the leadership group into a room and talking with them, I think they heard, they saw that I’ll listen and felt that it was genuine. 

That’s one of the things I pride myself on, is giving them direction, the organization, the parameters we want this team and vision to look like but also hearing them out and hearing what’s important to them and making it there so that they have ownership and are willing to invest on another level.

During that January contact period when the transfer portal opened, what was your message to your guys?

Once we got past those first few days, I think they kind of felt, “OK, we can give this a chance.” We got the staff in place, the culture started coming through in our daily talks and how we did things in practice and the energy we brought. There was some great continuity here in the program, whether it was Dave Ballou with the strength staff or Jeff Allen with the training room, many of the player development staff and some others around the program that really were just so critical to the transition and helping me out, but also helping these guys out.

So, once we got past that first week or two, I really felt comfortable that you might lose a guy at some point over those 30 days, but it wasn’t just gonna fall apart and we’re gonna get a chance in spring ball. I knew once we got into spring ball, we’d be OK because they’d enjoy the way we coached, the way we operated. The expectations weren’t going to fall off.

There’s only one Coach Saban. There’s only one of every coach at every place. The guys have just been amazing. They’ve embraced everything. I couldn’t have asked for anything more.

For more of my conversation with DeBoer, head over to Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen to your podcasts.

Joel Klatt is FOX Sports’ lead college football game analyst and the host of the podcast “The Joel Klatt Show.” Follow him on X/Twitter at @joelklatt and subscribe to the “Joel Klatt Show” on YouTube.

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