Rece Davis urges 'calmness and patience' amid Alabama's transition from Nick Saban to Kalen DeBoer

College football’s story of the offseason was about Alabama living life post-Nick Saban. Kalen DeBoer was hired from Washington, taking over a program with incredibly high expectations. Things got off on the right foot when DeBoer secured a win against Georgia in Tuscaloosa, thought to be a massive statement.

But Alabama has lost twice since then to both Tennessee and Vanderbilt. Questions have been asked about DeBoer already as fans in Tuscaloosa grow frustrated. Seven games in and and two losses are already in the loss column, something Saban only did once (2007).

ESPN’s Rece Davis is not surprised by the bumps in the road though, pointing out how the program is run entirely different than just 10 months ago.

“This transition, any transition, when you follow someone like Nick Saban was never going to be smooth,” Davis said on The Paul Finebaum Show. “I mean, think about the differences. For 17 years, they practiced at 3:30 in the afternoon. Now, they practice in the morning. There was no music at practice, now there’s music. Freshmen couldn’t talk, now they have podcasts. Assistant coaches talked but preseason and in the Playoff. Now they’re at every press conference.”

DeBoer has spoken at length about keeping Alabama’s standard at the same level. Even so, the head coach’s resume speaks for itself before accepting the job. His record was phenomenal and joined right after a national championship appearance with Washington.

So there is a proven track record of DeBoer’s method of running a program working. Davis sees nothing wrong with the process, it’s just quite different than Saban. He calls for patience from Alabama fans as DeBoer still settles in.

“There’s nothing wrong with any of that, just the entire environment has changed around,” Davis said. “Any type of transition is going to be tough, particularly tough when a standard that has been set previously is the greatest standard in the history of the sport. I would just urge some calmness and patience.”

Another loss on Saturday to Missouri and there may not be any more patience. Alabama has not had three regular season losses since 2010 but Saban was fresh off his first national championship with the Crimson Tide. You know DeBoer starting his tenure at 9-3 or worse would have blood boiling.