Everything Kalen DeBoer said after Alabama's 18th fall practice

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama football completed its 18th practice of the fall on Thursday morning. It was a shorter practice, beginning at 9:55 a.m. and concluding at 11:45 a.m.

After practice, head coach Kalen DeBoer addressed the media for the final time before Western Kentucky week next week. Below is a transcript of everything DeBoer said:

DeBoer’s opening statement…

“Ok, good morning. This is kind of the time where the weeks fly by pretty quickly. It seems like it’s slow and a lot of days and a lot of work’s being put in and all of the sudden boom school starts and that was yesterday. Then today you just keep inching closer and closer. It just seems like these days stack up faster. We’re getting close. The guys are certainly getting to that point. I don’t want to say we’re there yet, but getting to that point where we need to hit someone else and see where we’re at.

We’ll start getting into some Western Kentucky here over the weekend, some prep on that. There’s been some things here and there that we’ve done. Just putting film in front of them, a couple looks here and there, but this will be where we kind of dial in and focus specifically on them. So, putting our depth charts together here over the weekend, you know, got obviously a pretty good idea in all phases where things are going with most of them, but really dialing in and those details are things we’re really paying attention to right now.”

DeBoer on accusations of illegally recruiting Graham Nicholson…

“I don’t know anything about that, I guess, that comment. Yeah, I mean, he entered the portal and we reached out to him. That’s how that goes, right? So we did everything the way you’re supposed to.”

DeBoer on Kobe Prentice…

“Yeah, Kobe brings speed. He’s got some experience, just everything that I think can really fit well into the offense. He can play inside and outside. That’s something that I think we’re really trying to really groom all our receivers to do, is be very versatile. I think that’s an area where he’s kind of grown his game through fall camp. When he gets in space and someone’s one on one with him there’s very few people who can keep up. We’ve seen that this spring, summer, fall camp, just the ability to run and I think he’s really, again under Coach Shep and being pushed by the rest of the core, really done a good job really improving his game so I’m proud of where he’s at and the direction he’s going.”

DeBoer on his philosophy on publicly releasing depth charts…

“Yeah, I mean, we’ll probably do something where it’s public at some point throughout the week. A lot of it is also just kind of where it’s at with our opponent to. That’s really a – you kind of know especially after Week 1. The Week 1 game is probably the trickiest but there’s so much information on us that’s out there already. I always kind of assume that’s known by our opponent, so there’ll be something. I think for the most part 90% is kind of already known, obviously the special teams pieces are still out there. The other 10% or whatever you want to call it, I would say some of those things are still kind of up in the air and going to be a work in progress and not solidified. If you got a depth chart there might be some or’s in different spots and hopefully, that’s understandable.”

DeBoer on when to go for it on 4th down…

“Yeah, this is something I talk about with the team. We did this before the first scrimmage because we talk about being in those moments in those fourth down situations on both sides of the ball and just what that means when we are going for it. Because I think it means you have confidence that you can get it offensively, but it also means you have confidence in a defense that can go out there and not just collapse if they’re put in a tough spot where you come up short on the offensive fourth down conversion. We specifically talk about that. We get in situations in scrimmages, and move the ball situations all camp long. All spring long too where we are very intentional on understanding when it comes to fourth down it’s just another play, another down.

“Yeah, it’s an important one, but we can’t just lock up and feel like it’s do or die and go out there and just execute the play, just do what we’re supposed to. When it comes to the decision I would say that the mindset is we want to be aggressive but we’re not going to be reckless. That’s what I tell the guys, that’s what I tell the team. We’re going to play a team game and team game means that if there are situations we really feel are favorable, situations where we really feel like we can get it, or we really need to based on the flow of the game even, we’ll go for it.

“I think last year there were some right at the end of the season, but if you look at the numbers it isn’t like we’re that much more. I’d probably say we’re in the middle of the pack roughly on how many times we go for it – other than the championship game when you’re forced to go for it. I don’t think we’re reckless, but we take those right times and try to take advantage of them and go for it.”

DeBoer on Courtney Morgan…

“Yeah, he’s super critical. He’s a guy, I know it’s been said many times, but he’s the guy that came down with me when I got the opportunity to come here and we just mesh so well. I feel like there’s a trust that exists. I mean, there’s a trust that I have with all our staff members, but having worked with him now – this will be going on year four – and knowing him for longer that I understand what he’s about. I understand he’s relationship driven, that he does a great job of identifying and evaluating. He has a team that he leads in a way… I think we’ve worked together to figure out the leadership and the way we want to operate.

“I don’t micromanage every move and every minute of the day by people, but you really try to provide an environment where your staff, and in his case his recruiting staff for the most part and there’s other elements of it too when you’re the GM, but there’s just a lot of elements that he oversees. We’ve continued to hire the right people and let them go work. Courtney when it comes to the recruiting piece, obviously, we’ve been successful and he’s a major, major piece of that and excited for what’s to come in the future with him here in this program for sure.”

DeBoer on transfer portal additions at safety…

“They’re really important. From a starting position, Keon to younger guys, it depends on who you’re talking about, in different roles who are going to be really important for us in certain packages. Not just depth in my mind. Special teams. These guys have really come in, they’re not just great players, but they’re people and guys who have really blended in well. Became really accepted with our team quickly. That’s a tribute to who they are as people and the work they put in. I’m really appreciative of how important they’ve been everyday. They just feel like they’ve been here forever. Been part of this team, just like all these guys who have been here two, three, four years.”

DeBoer on Kneeland Hibbett…

“We gave Kneeland a scholarship. I wasn’t sure even internally how to handle that. I wanted to surprise him, and we did that. He’s got that. He deserves that. He’s rock solid and just a great person. We have senior talks that we do, and he started us off last week. Knocked it out of the park. You can just see the type of leader that he is and how much the guys trust and believe in him. How much they respect him. The long snapper, right, like many specialists is a guy you undervalue. Most people do, until all of a sudden those times come, the lights are bright, that snap’s not made, that kick’s not made. The punt didn’t end how it’s supposed to. He’s just really trustworthy and he’s great to have on this team.”

DeBoer on JJ Watt speaking to the team, philosophy with camp speakers…

“I think there were some connections actually prior to me even being here. I wanted to find guys … And we really had less speakers come in because I wanted it to still be more about probably myself and our staff laying down the culture and us taking those team meetings as a first year group together. Making it more about us. But it’s been a great tradition, and it was exciting to carry on the tradition with JJ Watt, Chris Paul, and we had a speaker on life in general with Hunter Pinke come in too.

“These guys, I think the cool thing with especially JJ and Chris Paul, they’re still playing, or JJ just recently retired, but they’re still playing. They are elite, they did it for many years. I thought that was awesome having someone … It feels like you always bring in the offensive guys, the quarterbacks or whoever. He came in and spoke from a defensive side of things and got a chance to spend some time with the d-line. They picked up a few tricks too. It was really cool. He had a great message. Sacrifice, commitment was a common theme with most of the speakers that came in. We know that’s what it takes to be great.”

DeBoer on naming captains before the season…

“I think there’s levels to the leadership. We need every guy. I tell them, if they have influence on any one, they’re a leader. Which is pretty much our whole team. These guys are the ones that, for the most part, are the best of the best. Whatever high school they were at. They’re used to being leaders. Doesn’t mean that a freshman can’t lead. We’re going to have some freshman on the football field that they’ve got to be great leaders out there this fall.

“We have a unity council, which is another level and layer of the leadership. Then the captains. That’s kind of how it has always felt. There is just this smaller group you really can go to, that you feel certainly have the ears of the team and can get up in front of them. I thought our team did a great job picking four guys that are going to pour everything into everyday. They’re going to have great messages. Not afraid to get up in front and say what they feel when it’s needed most. But I’m also going to emphasize to our whole team that we’ve got to have a whole team of leaders. We just can’t fall on those four guys. I’m really careful to make sure I emphasize that. I don’t want just those four guys feeling like the weight’s got to be on them. We need the whole team.”

DeBoer on developing quarterbacks…

“I would say it’s an every day thing, it’s an every rep thing. When they comeoff, you want to be able to go through with them what they were thinking, what they could do better, just the thought process, execution and all of that. There’s tools you’ve got to teach them, and I feel like for the most part what they come in with, with motion and things like that, probably 85-90 percent of that is what you’re going to have to work with.

“It’s not about overhauling a throwing motion or anything like that. It’s about them grasping football, them grasping what it takes to win, teaching them to be great leaders. You’re working footwork drills, you’re working accuracy, you’re working all those type of things, too. But just the mental piece, I think, is so important. And them feeling comfortable with what you’re doing. I don’t ever want them running a play where there’s even a doubt in their mind _ whether it’s them or that someone else doesn’t know what they’re doing that’s lined up with them on the field.

“It’s just being in sync with them. And as a quarterback having that communication, whether it’s the coordinator and the quarterback, myself with both of them. That’s just so critical to be aligned and know our response because the quarterback is going to be seeing, his body language, what he says. Going through all that, not just daily but after just about every set of plays, we’re talking about those things and highlighting it with them, emphasizing with them. And I think when you keep stacking those moments on top of each other, that’s how you develop a great quarterback.”

DeBoer on coaching with Nick Sheridan at Indiana…

“There’s a lot of things, but I would say it would be a combination of just a brilliant mind helping me bring our offense into Indiana that year. And him being able to be that liaison or being that set of ears that could decipher, evaluate process with me what’s going to be the smoothest way for us to make that happen. He did that also when we went to Washington.

“Just really having a big-picture view, understanding the things that you’ve got to have to have a successful offense whether it’s week 1 or week 12, whatever time in the season it is. Knowing the tools you need, the concepts, the formations, the wrinkles, seeing defenses, being able to just mentally (snapping his fingers) just quick making decisions. Just a bright, bright coach, and I could see it right away.

“And then there’s the personality side where he has great relationships with the team, with the coaches on the staff. He’s a team player through and through. Just all of those things, just people you want to align yourself with. I saw that really quickly. I told him over and over, especially that was five years ago, you know, I wasn’t at that spot when I was that age. I told him over and over again. And now he’s got a bright future, not just as a head coach but as an offensive coordinator some day.”

DeBoer on academics for transfers and reclassified players…

“From that standpoint, we can’t take those guys until we have an approval that everything is in good standing. That deals with compliance and things like that. But I’m proud of our guys. Academically this spring they had a 3.2 GPA as a whole team for the semester. We had 85 of 123 of our players this spring had over a 3.0. They’re getting degrees. This summer it was almost right at that number with the GPA at a time when they know the season’s coming. Summer, I’ve seen some places it’s a little more low-key with the academic focus.

“These guys are just well-rounded, and that gives you a good sense of the maturity of our team. I thought even at practice, not jumping off the academic side but I thought we practiced where there was a lot of physical but a lot of mental, I think it shows the maturity of our team. I don’t think we’re there yet. I think there’s a lot of room for growth. We’ve got a lot of young guys, a lot of new faces in our program. And probably close to like 35-40 new scholarship guys on our team. But our maturity and want-to and all that shows in our academics. And I’m super proud of them taking care of that so that there’s less distractions so they can focus on what they really love to do and that’s play football.”

DeBoer on the biggest area of improvement he’s seen in fall camp…

“I like how consistent we’ve become here at the end. I thought, speaking with you also on Saturday, we talked about the physicality of it, flying around. I think we’re in a good spot. With fall camp, you always worry about getting the legs back and things like that. I think there’s not a cumulative fatigue that’s happened with our team. I think we’re getting stronger. 

“The consistency, both sides of the ball, I don’t feel like there’s days when we come out and you just don’t know what you’re going to get. You know what you’re going to get, for the most part. Some days, depending on the install, it might be better for one side of the ball than it is for the other, but I know I’m going to get great effort. I know that they’re going to work together. I know that we can change tempos in practice, and they’re going to be able to adjust, and they’re going to listen. 

“I challenged them in a big way for this session we just had out here. It’s something I’ve seen happen over the years with a lot of special teams and transitions, it can just fall apart on you. These guys thrived, got done about 10 minutes earlier than I expected. 

“So, I love that about them. Again, we’ve got a lot of things that we’ve got to always continue to work on. I tell them that every snap we play, from the beginning to the end of the season, we’re going to get better. We’ve got to have a 1-0 mindset. You’ve probably heard that from them as well. But a 1-0 mindset because every snap we’re still learning. We’re still learning a new system in all areas. So, I’m proud of the way they come to work every day, but that consistency has been something I’m proud of.”

DeBoer on having interest in playing a game out of the country…

“Yeah, I think there’s a right time. When you’ve been in a program for a while and you want to continue to expand things like that, I’ve looked into those at different times in different places. I think it’s going to be tough first year or two to do something like that, but there’s just more and more things you want to put in front of these guys and experiences you want to give them, so I think that’s pretty cool.”

DeBoer on the roster staying healthy during camp…

“Yeah, I think that our training staff has done a great job. One thing, just talking to our training staff here this morning even, just yesterday they’ve got classes. So it was really our first day of them being in this new rhythm, new routine. They saw guys all afternoon just coming in. 

“Guys got dings and stuff, but their prehab, rehab, whatever it might be, they’re just living in the training room, they’re around the facility in the afternoon. I just feel like we’re stealing hours that way,  in and around classes, after practice, in between meals, all that good stuff. I think that has led to a team that’s, you know, for the most part, pretty healthy. So that’s what it’s going to take is every rep, like I said, is going to be really important for our health and our development.”

DeBoer on Ryan Williams and Zabien Brown…

“They’re just both so advanced in different ways. It might be athleticism and also maturity and understanding what the commitment is. At that age, I think a lot of guys don’t realize what it really takes. They still probably don’t completely understand, but they’re farther along in figuring that out than most guys that come in. 

“So, they’ve been thrown in there and realized there’s opportunity. And I love how they’ve taken advantage of their opportunities and not just taken it for granted that more and more are going to come. So, whether we’re working through, I mean you guys saw him, Zabien’s working through, he got dinged up a couple weeks back, and that showed a lot right there that he wants to be out there. Not that there was an option or anything, but he just went out there and wanted to go get some reps. He easily could have said, ‘I’m not comfortable yet’ and been on the sideline a little bit more.”

DeBoer on the SEC’s new tiebreaker system…

“Someone sent it to me. I just took a screenshot of it, and I haven’t really digested it or gone through it. That’s something I was going to do here in the next day or two.”

DeBoer on Geno VanDeMark…

“The reason he came in is for exactly what we’re looking at. He’s a guy that’s got some snaps under his belt, we really don’t feel like we’re losing much. That’s not a knock on Jaeden, Jaeden’s exceptional and he’s the standard. But that Geno can come in and just 18 practices in, or even less than that, come in and play guard, play center, he’s done a great job.”

“The thing I’d say about Geno is he loves the work. I think it was probably two or three days into it, I saw him in the hallway this summer, just asked him how things were going. In his own words — I can’t say those words right now here, but in his own words, he expressed that he loved the work that these guys put in. He loved just the mindset, and that’s really cool to hear because he was like ‘These are the hardest workouts I’ve ever been through.’

“It says a lot about him wanting to be great, and you can see that out there. Again, he’s refining, he’s working on it every day. He’s getting better at snapping the ball. He’s getting better at playing guard this week for sure. I’m just really appreciative that he’s here with us. That’s 100 percent.”