Greg McElroy breaks down Kalen DeBoer’s comment on Alabama culture

Alabama won’t have Nick Saban on its sidelines in the 2024 campaign but it’ll have a similar culture. At the 2024 SEC Media Days, new Crimson Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer revealed how he’s preserved the Alabama spirit Saban built.

“The way they respect each other, you can see it in spring ball,” DeBoer said. “As much as I try to do a great job of laying out the tempos of practice and how we need to be aggressive and play the game the way it needs to be played, but also we’ve got to protect each other. We need each other. I know I needed to say those things and I wanted to say those things and it’s important to me, but I think they understood that.

“Again, that’s a credit to Coach Saban and everyone that’s coached in the program before and the culture that existed even before I got here. These guys, they know they need each other to reach the goals that we have as a program. Then, I think they also really respect the goals that they each have individually, whether it’s being the greatest college football player you can be or moving on and putting yourself in a good spot to move on to the NFL.”

As Alabama’s former starting quarterback, ESPN’s Greg McElroy intimately understands the winning culture Saban established in Tuscaloosa. On Thursday, McElroy weighed in on DeBoer’s comments.

Is Kalen DeBoer exaggerating?

“This is truth, 100%,” McElroy said. “He’s talking about the guys really playing for each other. Coach Saban referenced this multiple times on the set. And this was something that was created for the last 17 years. When you’re at Alabama, or when you’re at Georgia, when you’re at Ohio State, when you’re playing for championships, the teams that win championships, they’re playing for their school.

“They’re playing for their family. They’re playing for the name on the back, the name on the front — like all those great things are real. That’s true, but you’re also playing because I want to help the guy next to me reach his potential.”

Alabama won’t have many players left who remember Saban’s teachings. The team lost 34 players to the transfer portal this offseason, landing at No. 66 in On3’s Transfer Portal Team Rankings. In fact, Alabama will only return 44% of its total production from last season, per ESPN.

Despite the losses, Kalen DeBoer is excited for the journey ahead. Alabama will kick off the 2024 campaign against Western Kentucky on Aug. 31.