Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 For badmintoncentral.com, I'm Matthew Gibson.
00:02 That's Will Miller for the extra point.
00:04 On Wednesday, Nick Saban officially announced his retirement.
00:07 Two days later, Kalen DeBoer is your new Alabama head coach.
00:11 Will, what did you like from Kalen DeBoer's introductory press conference?
00:14 >> Well, it's obviously a transformative moment in the history of the program.
00:19 Nick Saban with 17 seasons and 10 wins for
00:25 16 of those national championships, SEC championships.
00:29 The accolades are tremendous, you name it, he did it.
00:33 And Kalen DeBoer, I think,
00:36 really seemed to understand the magnitude of succeeding that.
00:40 It seemed like he was very authentic and
00:45 really seemed ready to meet this task.
00:49 One thing that struck me in terms of authenticity was how emotionally he got
00:54 over talking about leaving his players at Washington.
00:57 Kalen DeBoer very successful as the Washington head coach for two seasons,
01:02 with a 25 and three record and national championship game appearances past year.
01:07 And he did say there weren't many places he would have left there for.
01:12 But much like maybe some of the thoughts Nick Saban had when he took
01:16 the job all those years ago, you're not sure if an opportunity
01:21 like that is ever gonna come around again.
01:24 But I was struck by just how he seemed to wear it on his sleeve in terms of
01:29 owning the fact that it's an emotional proposition to leave Washington,
01:35 leave the players you coached and built the program back up to take on a challenge,
01:41 like continuing the success at this Alabama football program.
01:45 But he seems committed to checking the boxes, committed to obviously working with
01:50 Nick Saban, keeping him involved, putting his own stamp on the program.
01:54 But there seems to be a vision here for this new era.
01:58 >> Yeah, no, I completely agree.
02:00 And he's already talked about what his staff is sort of gonna look like.
02:04 There's been a lot of speculation with Brian Grubb.
02:07 Courtney Morgan comes in who is essentially the GM of the Washington team
02:11 and helped assemble that roster along with Michigan's roster.
02:13 I think with DeBoer, the fact that he's come in with such a solid plan for
02:21 his tenure is just everything Alabama can hope for more.
02:25 He's young too, he's only 49.
02:27 He was, we went from being Indiana's offensive coordinator in 2019 to being
02:31 Alabama's head coach in about five years.
02:33 He's a fast riser, his offensive scheme is fantastic.
02:37 I can't wrap my head around why someone like Ryan Williams or
02:40 Jamie French wouldn't wanna be a part of an offense like that.
02:43 And look, he's overall 104 and what, 12 as a head coach?
02:50 He's a winner, he's a proven winner.
02:52 I think Alabama has the right guy.
02:54 I think DeBoer is made of the right stuff.
02:56 Talking to him in the little media breakout room with the press, he's just sharp.
03:02 He's sharp as they come and just really an impressive individual.
03:06 Seems really authentic, really genuine.
03:08 There's a lot of coaches that have a little bit of, we'd say,
03:10 cornball about them.
03:11 There's nothing cornball about Caleb DeBoer.
03:14 This is a stand up guy.
03:15 I think Alabama has made a fantastic hire here.
03:20 >> Like I said, I just think he has a vision and
03:23 he's put that into action on a dime before.
03:26 You remember at Washington, he inherited a challenging situation to quote Greg Byrne,
03:32 and it was a very tumultuous situation.
03:35 It wasn't just about a team going four and eight at all.
03:38 There was a lot of other stuff going on and
03:39 he helped put that in the past in an emphatic way, I would say.
03:46 And so if you're looking for a transformation and a challenging time,
03:53 I mean, at that point, who's better?
03:56 That's a power five program that had potential to,
04:01 maybe depending on who you ask, fall off the rails.
04:04 That didn't come close to happening thanks to who they hired.
04:07 Alabama's now made that same hire and he's got a plan.
04:12 The opinions are obviously mixed on how it's gonna go and
04:16 that part's still very much up in the air in terms of definitive answers.
04:21 But I think really and truthfully, with the authenticity he showed and
04:27 how willing he was to lay everything out clearly that he's got a plan.
04:30 >> For bammessential.com, this has been the Extra Point.
04:34 [MUSIC]