Kalen DeBoer reveals how Alabama's fourth-quarter program looks without Nick Saban

Kalen DeBoer will have to pick and choose what does and doesn’t come over from Nick Saban’s tenure to his at Alabama. However, one thing that will certainly be sticking around in Tuscaloosa is the team’s fourth-quarter program.

DeBoer addressed the fourth-quarter program and any tweaks he may have made to it during the first press conference of the spring for the Crimson Tides’ new head coach. In short, he started by saying that they hadn’t made many, if any, adjustments to it.

“We kept it pretty consistent with what it’s been,” said DeBoer.

The reason that DeBoer said that they’re keeping it, though, is the player’s respect and appreciation for it. He loved their energy toward the program, even though Saban was no longer there. As such, the staff left it in as something that they’ll continue to work on from now throughout the spring.

“The guys? You can tell it’s something that it’s something that they feel strong about,” said DeBoer. “The energy just is there from the beginning to the end.

“I think the key is taking that in the workouts when we’re in the early winter months here and transferring that over to football. That was the challenge today,” DeBoer explained. “We have a period at the end where we gather. We’ve referred to it – I’ve done this many years now. We refer to it as, also, the finish of the fourth quarter period. Being able to connect to what they just did the last few weeks with the fourth-quarter program? Transferring it from the indoor and the workouts that they’re doing onto the football field? I think that excites them.”

Saban, along with Scott Cochran, brought the program to ‘Bama back in his arrival in 2007. The purpose of it is training to where you will outlast your opponents until, as stated, the fourth quarter. It pushes the players in every sense, including physically and emotionally, in order to prepare them to be unfazed during the course of a game or season.

Again, there are some aspects of Saban’s style that won’t translate over to what DeBoer will be doing moving forward. With that said, this is something that he clearly sees the value in and will continue on with his team and teams to start his career with at Alabama.

“There has been a lot of football games won because of the work that has been put in because of that program,” said DeBoer. “They believe in it and it’s going to be important for us this fall, for sure.”