Kalen DeBoer details plan for first 90 days as Alabama coach

The first order of business for Kalen DeBoer after accepting the Alabama head coach position was to introduce himself to the fan base. He did that Saturday during a press conference in Tuscaloosa, his first on-campus appearance after agreeing to replace Nick Saban.

Now, he has to build out his staff. That, DeBoer said, is part of his plan for the next few days.

DeBoer told reporters the plan is to get a staff together soon as he settles in to his new digs. That’s important for multiple reasons. For starters, he can start implementing what he wants to do at Alabama after leaving Washington. But also, he wants the players to know who the coaches will be in 2024 so they can properly prepare.

“As far as the next 90 days, I think even just more specifically, the next couple of days, it’s putting a staff around these guys, because they do want to know,” DeBoer said. “And there’s some some pieces — I always am the believer that you build around your coordinators. I sat as an assistant coach in a meeting room too many hours to not truly understand that a coordinator needs to have his people as best as possible

“There are some people I’m going to bring up, but I want that staff stamp of approval from the coordinator that this is a group that they can thrive working with. And so we’ll be doing that quickly because our guys want to know, you know? Every hour that goes by is somewhat agonizing to them. And so we’ll work on that, getting a staff in place. I’m not saying we’ll have every position in place, but we’ll have a pretty good start on it and I will continue to meet with the players and build the relationships.”

Kalen DeBoer: ‘First and foremost, the recruiting needs to happen within this team’

Although the transfer portal window closed last week, Saban’s retirement opened a 30-day period for Alabama players to enter, per NCAA rules. That means Kalen DeBoer not only has to assess what he currently has, but he also has to try and keep the players he wants to stay after the coaching change. He also has to look at recruits who committed to Alabama but didn’t sign on National Signing Day.

Putting a staff together will help with that so the players know their roles.

“There’s a lot of recruiting that goes on, but first and foremost, the recruiting needs to happen within this team and getting them to buy in,” DeBoer said. “You know, in the world today and how easy it is to jump from one place to another, you know, this is — I’ll just be frank with you, this is a time when people try to take advantage of that. And I mean, that’s the competitive world we live in. And I understand that, and so recruiting our own roster is first and foremost.

“Then the recruitment of, you know, those that have the interest, maybe are committed, maybe haven’t signed, kind of just touching base with all of them and making sure, you know, I have a good understanding of what that is all out there. My understanding’s spring ball’s down the road and organization, I think, is one of my greatest strengths and we’ll have a day-to-day organization that’s 12 months out in every area to support our guys.”