Everything Kalen DeBoer said in final press conference before ReliaQuest Bowl

TAMPA, Fla. – Alabama and Michigan head coaches, Kalen DeBoer and Sherrone Moore, took part in a joint press conference on Monday morning, the eve of the 2024 ReliaQuest Bowl. The two blue-bood teams will face off on Tuesday, Dec. 31, at Raymond James Stadium.

Below is everything DeBoer said ahead of Alabama’s season finale against the Wolverines.

KALEN DeBOER: Yeah, it’s been a good few days down here. Just appreciate everyone in the Tampa area. Got over to Clearwater yesterday and just all these events that our players have been able to be a part of, fans, as well, just nothing but great hospitality.

Appreciate ReliaQuest with the sponsorship and just everyone down here for greeting us from the time we got here until I know the time we leave.

As Coach said, we’ve known each other for a while, and a lot of respect for him, know some of the staff, and also just the program there at Michigan in general.

Looking forward to a great game. Our guys, really proud of the way they’ve gone about their work, going back not just this week but all the way through the month. Just always looking for opportunities to continue to get better individually, collectively as a team, and ready to go out and play tomorrow.

Again, great weather down here in Tampa. Looking forward to an exciting game, and be our best.

Q. For both coaches and Coach DeBoer first, there’s a plethora of sports movies being made today. If they decide to make a movie that you’re in, what actor do you want to play you? Coach DeBoer, I’m thinking Jeff Daniels. Not the “Dumb and Dumber” Jeff Daniels but the one who’s in “Newsroom.” And Coach Moore, Cuba Gooding, Jr. What do you guys think?

KALEN DeBOER: Well, I think you said it. Yeah, I appreciate the added piece on there with not the “Dumb and Dumber” part. So thanks for that.

Yeah, I don’t know. I haven’t thought that far down the road. I think probably just like Coach, we’re just trying to take one day at a time and lead our programs right now and take care of our guys.

Love a good sports movie, though, that’s for sure.

Q. Kalen, curious, we’ve seen a lot of Jaylen Mbakwe at wide receiver over the past few days. I’m curious what you’ve seen from him in practice, but is it a permanent move to wide receiver? Is he going to play both ways for you guys?

KALEN DeBOER: Yeah, for this game, I think right now where it’s transitioning to just with the opportunities there at that position, I think it’s something that based on what we’ve seen here through the first couple, I guess almost two weeks now, of him taking reps, he’s certainly got the skill set, and really excited about what he can do for us there at that position.

He’s got the speed. He’s had the ball in his hands all through high school, running the offense there at that level, and then we’ve used him in the punt return game and the return games.

We’re just really comfortable with what he can bring to the table. Now it’s just learning the position, learning the offense. I think you’ll see us continue to move in this direction with him. He’s really been focused on the offensive side really all of bowl prep.

It was natural, number one, because of numbers, but number two, I think because of what he can do as a football player. Not all guys just naturally move into that role, but he’s provided a really good amount of confidence in us and I think his teammates in this transition here already.

Q. Coach DeBoer, in the landscape we’re in in college football with players opting out for bowl games, what does it say about your leaders that they came out right away and most of the captains on the team are playing with the exception of the injury to Malachi? Did you meet with them or was that just kind of assumed?

KALEN DeBOER: We didn’t have a big meeting, but I think the leaders, as you mentioned, I think that’s always the key is what’s your leadership, and the leaders just understanding the precedent that’s been set here in this program when it comes to bowl games, opting out, and just kind of setting the tone on how important every opportunity when you get to put the crimson on is, and these guys get that one last chance here this year. Guys like Tyler Booker really stepping up and Milroe, as well, and others, just really saying, hey, we get one more chance as a brotherhood to go out on that football field together, we get a chance to be better as football players, and we want to set the program off continuing in the right direction going into next year and leave it at the best possible place that we can.

They’ve poured everything into it, all these guys. Just couldn’t be more proud of the mindset and how that’s trickled throughout the team and really led us to have some really good practices here all the way through the bowl practice here, even today.

Q. Kalen, do you have an update on Kadyn Proctor’s status for tomorrow?

KALEN DeBOER: Yeah, we’re expecting him to play.

Q. Coach DeBoer, with all the portal activity in December, obviously your roster right now looks a lot more like it will look in spring practice than it did for any regular season game. Does that make the tape from this bowl game more valuable as a self-evaluation tool ahead of spring practice than what you would get in the fall?

KALEN DeBOER: From this past fall? Yeah, I think every guy, it’s an opportunity. There’s some opportunities that some new faces are going to get. Maybe they’ve had roles, but their roles are upticked a little bit just as far as the reps they may get. Might be special teams, might be offense, defense.

I think this game, the whole purpose, though, is still to go out here and go find a way to win. So that’s the priority, and along with it, just because there is movement, as you mentioned, with the portal, new guys are getting upgraded roles, more opportunities, and they’re looking forward to taking advantage of it.

Again, I think as you were kind of alluding to, it does help you kind of move forward into spring practice, which will just be right around the corner here before you know it.

Q. Kalen, a chance to get 10 wins with this game. What have you communicated and what have people told you about what that would mean for that streak with this program?

KALEN DeBOER: Yeah, it’s something that’s really important to the guys. There’s no question. They want to keep the streak alive there with 10-win seasons.

We always talk in terms of really trying to even simplify it down beyond that and just the most important game is the next one, just like the next play is the most important one. That’s where we’re focused.

But there is a piece, too, with the tradition and just everything. You don’t do it to put added pressure on yourself, you just make the game what it is, and this is an important game because it’s the one that’s in front of us.

Our players finding those motivational pieces, that is certainly one of them.

Q. Coach DeBoer, you mentioned the leadership and the brotherhood going into this game. Is that what you might be most proud of when you look at this group, the 2024 season in the larger context?

KALEN DeBOER: Yeah, I think that’s something I know I feel going back to January has certainly been just a stabilizing force for our team. There’s so much that was happening. I can sit here and talk all day just about this particular area and how important it’s been and how proud I am because there are some guys that pretty much put their foot down and said, this is the place that we believe in. They believe in themselves. They chose to stay. The ups and downs that came with our season, they just were steady through it and understood that the task wasn’t going to be easy.

Anytime you’re a program that’s on top, it’s hard enough just to stay on top when the continuity is all there, but they took on that challenge, and I couldn’t be, again, more proud of just the way that they’ve stuck together, whether it’s the upperclassmen or whether it’s sides of the ball. That includes our staff, as well, just the way they’ve continued to stay the course and look at every day as an opportunity for us to grow our program, continue to build our foundation.

But yeah, that brotherhood, that family environment that we really feel strong about, it’s carried us through a lot, including this last month, just, again, with the highs and lows of what’s come our way.

Q. Kalen, this isn’t any player specific, but just in general, what have your conversations been like with guys who are considering the NFL? How has your advice changed over the years when they can now come back to school and make money with NIL?

KALEN DeBOER: Yeah, a lot of this has been going on, especially the last month. Just position coaches, coordinators, just as much information as we can always give these guys, we want to help them make the best decision that they can. That’s the priority.

Yeah, those conversations continue to happen now. I think a lot of the guys have a good feel of where they’re leaning, but there’s still some decisions that need to be made, and we’re here for them. I think they understand that.

Of course our program moving forward is probably better with them if they stay, but that’s for each guy to make his choice, and we’re going to help them through it the best we can. I think most of them here sooner than later will have that final decision made.

But the conversations do, as you mentioned, they certainly are different now than they maybe were three, four, five years ago as far as what the opportunities and why you might stay compared to what it was before NIL and so forth.

Q. Coach DeBoer, final game in your first year as Alabama’s head football coach. What does a win mean to you?

KALEN DeBOER: Well, yeah, you want to win them all, right? That’s a given. But I think just finishing this year off with a positive would be big for just the direction, for this team to kind of put an end to it, but also to help us just moving forward and the trajectory. I think that’s what bowl games are in general. But yeah, certainly after finishing up the first year, it’s been a whirlwind of 11 months.

But I like where we’re at with the mindset, like where we’re at with how things are coming together, and looking forward to taking those next steps, and I think this bowl game can certainly help in that and moving forward.

Q. Kalen, for double clarity, Jalen and all your draft eligible guys, this is their game. They’re expected to play the whole game and go the distance if they can, correct?

KALEN DeBOER: Yeah, there’s been no conversations or anything. I guess I’d be pretty surprised. I think they’re here to win, to compete to put the best product that we can put out there on the football field for four quarters and go out there. I would not expect something like that.

That’s the way these guys are. Jalen Milroe, as you alluded to, and the other guys, they’re going to go out there just like they always have been and give everything they have, and they’ve shown that in practice, so I wouldn’t expect anything different.

Q. For both coaches, when you’re looking at film of the opposition, offense, defense, is there anything similar to teams you played when you look at Alabama or when you look at Michigan?

KALEN DeBOER: Yeah, I think the last part, too, would certainly apply. Take the most physical teams that we’ve played all season, and that’s what you’re going to look at when you’re getting ready for the game tomorrow is both sides of the ball, when it comes to Michigan, just being physical up front. That’s across the board, not even just up front. Just the style of play, the mindset that they have spreads not just in the front but all the way through the back half and the skill positions, as well, in just how hard they play, how physical they are.

So take the teams that you’ve played, each side of the ball maybe has faced different challenges from our end throughout the year, but these guys certainly present that at the highest level when it comes to the physicality.

They’ve shown style of play that I think going back to at least the last game here with their nice win against a playoff team, you understand that there’s a style of play that you’ve got to be ready for, I think, in knowing what they can do to win their football game. So we’ve got to counter that.

Q. Kalen, do you have an update on Justin Jefferson’s eligibility, like a definitive if he’s coming back next year?

KALEN DeBOER: Yeah, I’ll let him make the decision — not the decision, the announcements. But I know he was pretty excited to hear about the opportunity. So if that can give you an indication of where his head is at, and we’ve had the talks, and pretty confident that he’s excited to continue to play college football.

Nothing official has been said, but that was certainly a big announcement there right around Christmas. A good Christmas present for him and a good Christmas present for us for sure.

Q. For both coaches, you guys had a connection in the portal this off-season with Damon Payne and Justice Haynes. Can you talk about what you saw from them on film, and Coach DeBoer, talk about what you saw from them on the field coaching them this season.

KALEN DeBOER: Tough question. Yeah, I’m just going to say this: I’m always going to wish the guys that are in our program the best, and those are two really good solid young men. Always going to wish them the best. I hear the word “fit” coming from Coach Moore’s talk here, and that’s what you always hope, is that the college experience for anyone that you get to coach, you want it to be in your program, you want it to be a lead in your program, but ultimately this time comes and goes really fast, so I’m always going to wish the guys the best that were part of the year that we had here or anytime I’ve coached throughout my career.

Q. What has your experience been like here in Tampa? What kind of bonding things have you been doing? And what do you want your guys to get out of this experience?

KALEN DeBOER: Yeah, I think it’s a setting where there’s some time for the guys where they don’t have to worry about classes, they don’t have to worry about other things. It’s just enjoying each other, enjoying the moments that we have. There’s been different activities, events hosted by the bowl that I know they’ve enjoyed, and the practices and all that, this is what these guys love to do, and being able to just focus on football, and then when they have the free time, focus on the relationships and the friendships that we have.

We’re a smaller group now, just with some guys maybe that aren’t with us, that are not with the team, so I think these guys are really taking advantage of continuing to build, and the ones that are maybe spending their last days in the program, we’ve always tried to highlight them and celebrate what they’ve brought to this program and what this last game means to them and every practice being the last one potentially in this last moment here and that last moment there, tonight will be the last team meeting that we’ll ever have as this football team.

It’s just cherishing those moments that come along with these type of situations.

Q. For both coaches, and Coach DeBoer, you first, you were both in the College Football Playoff last year. If you cannot be in it, is there a better place to tee it up than Tampa, Florida, on New Year’s Eve at the ReliaQuest Bowl?

KALEN DeBOER: Talking about the newbies who are going to be in it someday, too. Yeah, we’re excited to be here, when we found out we got the opportunity.

It’s lived up to everything that I’d hoped.

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