This season, the Alabama Crimson Tide will have a new head coach with former Washington coach Kalen DeBoer taking over after legendary head coach Nick Saban announced his retirement from coaching following the 2023 season. And it sounds like Saban is confident in DeBoer as he takes over.
After retiring from coaching, Nick Saban joined ESPN as an analyst on their College GameDay pregame show. And during Saturday’s show, Saban had a pretty clear message for DeBoer ahead of his first game as Alabama’s head coach.
“Kalen has done a great job taking over this program,” Saban said. “He has the right disposition about him. He embraced the tradition; he embraced the culture. But he put his own mark on how he wanted to coach the team.
"Kalen (DeBoer) has done a great job taking over this program… He embraced the tradition; he embraced the culture. But he put his own mark on how he wanted to coach the team… I am really, really excited about what Kalen is going to do for Alabama." – Nick Saban 🏈🎙️ pic.twitter.com/BBw2tH6FaG
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 31, 2024
“I am really, really excited about what Kalen is going to do for Alabama.”
Alabama will open its season at home against the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers, marking DeBoer’s first game as the head coach of the Crimson Tide.
DeBoer is quite qualified for the position after leading the Washington Huskies to the national title game last season, but he obviously has some big shoes to fill as he takes over for Saban.

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