Kalen DeBoer dishes about how Alabama players have reacted to explosive Washington offense

Newly hired Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer may have the biggest shoes to fill in college football history, serving as the successor to Nick Saban who brought the program six national championships and nine SEC titles.

DeBoer does bring a winning pedigree with him to Tuscaloosa, boasting a 104–12 record as a head coach in his career. But he also brings an explosive offensive attack that’s been successful at all of his coaching stops.

During a ‘Pat McAfee Show’ appearance on Wednesday, DeBoer pulled back the curtain on his interactions Alabama’s offensive players regarding their new look offensive attack.

“Yeah that’s certainly a big piece of these guys here in the program understanding what we’ve been and we were on national TV a lot, enough for them to see what we were doing and to be excited about their roles,” DeBoer said.

“You talk about Jalen (Milroe), you talk about the receiving core, and these guys are fired up about getting those opportunities within this offense. Dillon Johnson was the leading rusher in the Pac-12, and so all the skill guys, they’re fired up and ready to learn the system and continue to grow.”

In DeBoer’s last two seasons as Washington‘s head coach, the Huskies have boasted one of the nation’s best offensive attacks. In the last two seasons, the Huskies have ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the nation in passing yards, also averaging north of 35 points per game in each of the past two years.

But that was in the Pac-12 Conference, with DeBoer also being asked if he’ll be able to run his spread out, arial offensive scheme in the SEC given the differences in the two conference’s defensive prowess.

“I certainly think we can,” DeBoer answered. “I think the heart and soul is still that you have to be physical, your offensive line has to be great. Our running back, Dillon Johnson, was right at the top of the conference rushing the football so when it came down to it that’s who we were and we believed in it. And with the personnel we have here, there’s some amazing running backs in this program.”

“I’ve seen first hand who these guys are and the offensive line is always a huge piece of the success and where it all starts. So I think what we’ve done, you always tweak it here and there to fit your personnel, Ryan Grubb and our offensive staff they will do exactly that,” DeBoer concluded.

Alabama’s roster fell victim to the transfer portal upon DeBoer’s arrival, with 29 Alabama players entering the portal as of January 24. But given the team’s offensive talent remaining and DeBoer’s offensive expertise, nobody should be counting out the Crimson Tide offense any time soon.