Everything Kalen DeBoer said after Alabama's first preseason practice

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer spoke to reporters following the first preseason practice for the Crimson Tide. Below is everything he said Wednesday morning.

DeBoer’s opening statement… 

“Like most first practices, good energy. Guys were excited to get out there. I can’t remember many, if any, times where you had to coach up the excitement and passion. That was all there. These guys have worked hard. We’re excited about Practice 1.

“Always gonna be far from perfect, but each side had its moments and made plays and that’s what you want. I love being the head coach in those times, right, because the assistants, they want every play to be perfect. And so they win half, they lose half the time, and I get to win all the time because I just choose the side that wins on that play. But no, it’s good having that give and take, and I felt that’s what we had.

“Welcome to the South, right, for me in particular. Just practice and a little bit warmer than the rest of the summer. It hit us here with Practice 1. Guys grinded through it. I thought, actually, they kept getting stronger as the day went on, which is what you wanna see, and they kept their spirits high through the very last rep.”

DeBoer on Ryan Williams…

“Consistently just on this trajectory on up. I don’t need him Day 1 – I mean, you want every play to be amazing, explosive, but you just want him lining up right, doing the fundamental things, making the easy plays, and then because of his ability, the big ones will come. So when your routes on air, run a good route, catch the ball, accelerate out with good ball security. You find those consistent fundamentals and you stack days and those plays we know he is capable of making will happen.”

DeBoer on Kadyn Proctor…

“I don’t have a huge understanding of what he was a year ago other than watching on film, but it feels like he’s in really good shape and lean. When you ask people who would have an understanding, Coach Ballou and so forth, it’d be nothing but positive about the progress he’s made. Strength and explosive numbers, I know, are up, that’s facts, that’s real. And then also just the way his body looks, leaner. He’s just so dense and has got so much mass, he’s gonna be big no matter what. Love his demeanor out there. It’s good to have him back. Good to have him here.”

DeBoer on the team’s conditioning; if he’ll sport a sweatshirt like Kane Wommack…

“No, you won’t see me like that (laughs). That’s his thing. I’ll just let him do that. 

“The strength staff, Coach Ballou, he’s been doing this here now. He knows what it takes, what that looks like throughout the summer, even going back in the winter. To me, it’s now getting into football shape. You try to replicate that as best you can, and I know he’s all over it. But there’s still something about putting pads on, having that helmet on, some guys wear a mask and just breathing through that even, having a mouthpiece in, all that good stuff. These guys had a good day out there today.”

DeBoer on the three new defensive back transfers…

“I always like to see the film before I make too many comments on missed assignments or anything like that. One or two plays, I think, might have happened because of maybe those guys being in there and just not in sync completely, but that’s expected Practice 1 with new faces out there on the field. But I love their energy. I love their attitude. They give great effort. They’ve really meshed with the whole team. I think there’s a ton of respect by their teammates, and that’s what you want. A lot of that starts with their character and the work ethic that follows along. They’ve got ability. Now, it’s just a matter of getting those reps so they can be confident in themselves and others can be confident and knowing and believing that they are gonna be in the right spot, and that’s the direction I think they are headed.”

DeBoer on what he saw on Day 1; how he handles a bad day of practice…

“You’ve gotta be real, and that’s what I tell our guys. I’m gonna tell our team on a Sunday after a game what it was. It’s tell the truth Sunday, and we’ve gotta be real. When it comes to games, everyone will see it. If you’ve gotta be better or if it was a great day, I think it’s usually pretty obvious. And when it comes to practice, yeah, we can’t just gloss over things. We’ve gotta understand where we’re at, and we have relationships with each other, so we keep it real and hold each other accountable. Today, I thought it was a great practice. Any time and every day, there’s things to learn from. You learn from the good, you learn from the bad. You learn from others’ mistakes and your own. A lot of that happened today, the good and the bad, the mistakes, and we get to go watch film, we get to talk about it here in a team meeting and we’ve gotta work. But it was a positive day. I really feel like we’ve made the most of every practice since we’ve been here, going back to the spring. Some are obviously gonna be better than others.”

DeBoer on if the offense or defense is ahead; what happened to his leg…

“Our custodians do a really good job mopping the floors, and I didn’t realize it. But that’s not on them. That’s on me. 

“As far as who won or who’s ahead, I guess, I don’t really feel like there’s one side of the ball. I think there’s position groups within that are continuing to rise up. I think it’s pretty balanced across the board with the whole team.”

DeBoer on establishing communication with Jalen Milroe in the spring…

“I just try the most racks. When I talk about a rack, it’s whatever, a four- or five-play sequence or a drive. In practice, I just love following up with him. He just takes all the coaching, and he knows we’re gonna coach him up. That’s my job. You talk about teaching and critiquing and demanding excellence and the best, and he takes that. Every play, looking for it and working to be better. I thought he had a really solid day all around, and I know he’s far from reaching what he will be come next week, much less the first game.”

DeBoer on if there are difficulties getting guys used to morning practices…

“I think certainly. I think that a few guys, even though we really pushed it hard, I think they underestimate just the fuel they’ve gotta get in their bodies, which leads to cramping and things like that. So they’ll learn from it. That’s part of this process. That’s part of we talk about them grinding every day, refining everything, whether it’s note-taking in the meetings to their craft and the technique they have to, ‘Man, I’ve gotta eat more. I’ve gotta get more sleep. I’ve gotta drink more, hydrate and all that.’ So I think there’s a couple guys, when you go really follow up on the cramping, it’s like, ‘What did you eat?’ They didn’t eat enough. That will become a positive. We test throughout the week. We don’t want that cumulative fatigue that can happen, and by practicing and the schedule that we’ll be on, I just feel like we’ve got it down to where these guys will understand it and be able to adjust accordingly and take advantage of it, not fall fatigue to it.”

DeBoer on how DaShawn Jones’ experience can help at cornerback…

“He’s taken some snaps at the college football level. So we need him out there. I think there’s a confidence about him just because of that that, yeah, we need in our program always but also in that position room. All of those guys, the cool thing is, I think, they all respect each other and just pushing each other, learning every single day. Coach Mo is doing an awesome job.”

DeBoer on the importance of the offensive line meshing in fall camp…

“It’s huge, it’s huge. I mean, that’s where it all starts. I think your team is always gonna be maximized based on what your offensive line can do because it sets the tempo and it forces the defensive line and linebackers to really do a good job of fitting their gaps in the run. And you can protect the quarterback to where he can go through his reads and receivers having time to go through their routes, defensive backs now having to make plays because the protection is there. So these guys up front, really a couple of them haven’t been there throughout the spring, but like you said, Parker now back in there. Kadyn here. Pritchett took a lot of reps. He had a nice day. I thought Wilkin did a nice job. So a lot of mixing and matching, especially at the tackle position, I guess. The interior three was pretty consistent. But their reps are gonna be really critical for our success and them gelling.”

DeBoer on the status of Jeheim Oatis…

“He was almost ready right at the end of spring ball. And so he’s had a good summer and excited about what he’ll bring to the table for us. So he was right on the verge. If we had one more week of spring ball, we would probably made sure he was out there at that time.”

DeBoer on if he’ll bring in guest speakers during fall camp…

“The team doesn’t know those names, so I can’t (say). But we will certainly have some guys. I think first year especially, it’s important to me to try to lay that culture, just make sure it’s all right where we want it. And so I eat up a lot of that time through different things that I’ve either done in the past or, again, just starting over from scratch with us all being new together. The one thing our guys are, they’re still finishing summer school here these next couple days. And so they have a big block that I even just blocked off here this afternoon and we did the same thing yesterday and then Friday, there’s some finals that are getting taken. It’s not the whole team, but it’s a pretty good chunk. And graduation here at the end of the week as well for a few guys. So excited about that, but they’re finishing summer school. There will be a couple weeks where they don’t have anything but football, but then they do start fall semester on the 21st. So we’ll bring some speakers in. I think it’s great to hear from people who have been through it, experienced great things. You know, that’s fun. It’s been a tradition here, I know something that guys really enjoy. And we’ll keep growing that, but this year, just also wanted to dial down a little bit and make sure the right messaging is continually coming from me and our staff.”

DeBoer on whether he focuses on one position group or several in practice…

“I guess if I’m going to expect that I have a relationship with all of them, I need to really be able to get around and they need to see me and and that I care about their progress and coach them up and sit in the meeting rooms with them, knowing exactly the details that they’re being taught so I can emphasize it to them, as well. And when they come up and see me in my office, it’s not just general conversations. We pop on the film and really talk through because I know what’s being taught. I know the reps, and we have that relationship. And that’s, to me, part of what I feel is a strength of myself and the staff, is us all working together and all the players just feeling like, man, Coach isn’t just caring about this position or that position or that side of the ball.”

DeBoer on if he’ll have a differentiating look, like Saban’s straw hat, at practice…

“I don’t. This is what you get right here, with a broken shin.”

DeBoer on how the freshman defensive backs need to prove they’re ready…

“Yeah, they had a good spring. They got some of the install again and got some of the technical work in the summer. But now here they get it another time around. And they always say growth from Year 2 to Year 2. To me, it’s from the spring to the fall. It’s the second really full install time that they’ve they’ve kind of heard the lingo, the language, how they’re being taught, the reps. And so what we need to see from them is just taking that next big step. And then, much like the question with Ryan also being a younger guy on offense, you just want to see that consistency. Consistency builds trust, and that trust is going to be something that, whether old or young, we all got a gel and whoever’s on the football field, there’s got to be that trust within so they can have confidence to go out there and make plays.”

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