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In the 49 hours it took to hire Nick Saban’s replacement at Alabama football, Alabama athletics director Greg Byrne said he told his players multiple things: that the Crimson Tide would hire someone who would be “on the front end” both in coaching and player development, and one that he would “want my son to play for.”
Shown in “The Tides That Bind: Inside Alabama Football” documentary on FOX Nation, Byrne reminded the Alabama players that before introducing Kalen DeBoer for the first time.
Looking back, DeBoer remembers the gravity of that first moment in front of the Crimson Tide players.
“This is a moment that is important,” DeBoer said. “A moment that is really going to set the tone and expectation for them, for us, for them giving a first impression on ‘Hey, I’m leaving, I’m going to give it a chance, or I’m staying for good.'”
DeBoer related Alabama’s recent experience to the experience he had just gone through at Washington.
“Man, this is awesome, this is awesome,” DeBoer started in his speech to the players. “It’s been a whirlwind of a day. I can’t imagine what it’s been for you guys. Not just the day, but the last three days. I think about the last couple of weeks. I just came from a place where I just bawled my eyes out about five hours ago in front of a group just like this. And that’s hard. And I’m sure that happened just a couple of days ago when coach Saban was up here. Because that’s who you came to play for. He has a staff, an amazing staff. You guys have accomplished so much. I mean, right? Let’s just say what it is: he’s the best to ever do it. And I get that.”
DeBoer went over his core values, his non-negotiables including winning and being first-class on and off the field, “knowing it’s not easy.”
“It’s hard enough the way it is, to be the best,” DeBoer said. “And that’s our goal. That’s what we’re shooting for is to be the best. Not second, not third, not fourth. To be the best.”
DeBoer’s vision, he told the players, matched what he expected the vision to be for many players in the meeting room.
“I have a vision,” DeBoer said. “And my vision is probably very similar to what your vision is for this program, and what you want individually: NFL and great opportunity at the next level. And the other part of the vision is obviously winning championships.”
What ‘calmed’ Alabama football down in Kalen DeBoer meeting
Alabama general manager Courtney Morgan remembers an intense atmosphere in DeBoer’s first meeting at Alabama.
“Feel like people are weighing you up and down, up and down,” Morgan said.
But Alabama director of player personnel Ha Ha Clinton-Dix remembers the moment that broke the ice.
As DeBoer introduced his family to the Crimson Tide players and staff, Clinton-Dix said DeBoer said “you can clap for Mrs. Nicole,” pointing to his wife Nicole Tendler DeBoer, leading to laughter and applause.
“I think that calmed everybody down,” Clinton-Dix said.
After his speech, DeBoer asked players if they had questions. Defensive lineman Tim Smith was shown in the documentary asking “how long was the flight?” DeBoer replied “3 1/2 hours,” asking if it was longer or shorter than what Smith expected.
When Smith said “shorter,” all DeBoer could do was laugh.
“We caught a good wind,” DeBoer said. “We had the wind at our back.”
Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at cgay@gannett.com or follow him @_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter.
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