Nick Saban explains approach to helping Kalen DeBoer at Alabama ahead of 2024 season

Nick Saban is a great resource for Kalen DeBoer at Alabama but the former coach doesn’t impede on the new regime.

He’s there, don’t get it twisted. But Saban loves what DeBoer did over the course of the offseason heading into the 2024 campaign.

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Sure, Saban loved that DeBoer did some things the same but the differences really stand out.

“Kalen has done a great job taking over this program, because he’s got the right disposition about him,” Saban said on College GameDay. “He embraced the tradition, he embraced the culture, but he put his own mark on how he wanted to coach the team. How they practiced, how they played, what the offense was, what the defense was going to be. So I am really, really excited about what Kalen is going to do for Alabama.”

Again, Saban doesn’t want to get in the way of DeBoer. It’s easy to give your opinion when you’ve won seven national titles and are arguably the greatest college coach of all time.

But Saban is hands off.

“I try to stay out of the way,” Saban said. “I did sit in the press box and watch one scrimmage, and sometimes the coaches come over and see me … I kind of back off, if he calls and asks, I’m glad to give him my opinion about something.”

ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit knows Saban’s shadow over DeBoer and Alabama looms large, but he’s also confident in the new head coach to keep the train rolling.

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“Well, I think, first of all, how cool is it, on our set, you know, all year, but especially today, to talk about that subject and Nick Saban, we’re going to turn to him and ask him his thoughts on that,” Herbstreit said on SportsCenter. “I mean that shadow is very, very large in Tuscaloosa. We all knew that, whoever stepped in to become the next head coach. That’s a very, very challenging thing. 

“Now, all of us that follow Kalen DeBoer are very familiar with what he brings to the table, so we have confidence in what he can do, and he’s going to go about it very differently, but he’s an outstanding coach.”