Everything Kalen DeBoer said to kick off Georgia game week

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer kicked off Georgia game week with a press conference on Monday. The Crimson Tide will face the Bulldogs at home in its first SEC game of the 2024 college football season on Saturday, Sept. 28, at 6:30 p.m. CT (on ABC).

Below is everything DeBoer said during his Monday press conference of game week No. 4.

DeBoer’s opening statement…

“Just getting into our SEC opener, so it’s exciting for us and our program. And obviously with Georgia coming in here, a ton of respect for Coach Smart and everything he’s accomplished in his career and obviously there at Georgia with all the success they’ve had. Good to be playing at home. We need our crowd, our fans, to bring the energy. And obviously we’ve got to do our part to make it exciting and make sure there’s things to cheer for. So looking forward to a great atmosphere and an awesome weekend for our program.

“Bye week, you get a chance to get some guys healthy and so that was good. Even not guys that you’re even noticing maybe being out, but just guys that have got dings and going through practice and just doing everything they can and end up on the field on Saturday. So it was good from that aspect to get a few days for getting healthier there.

“But yeah, looking forward to a great week of practice. There shouldn’t be any problem — there hasn’t been a problem — of trying to have energy from our guys, and that certainly shouldn’t be the case this week. I know that.”

DeBoer on Donald Trump coming to Saturday’s game…

“I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of celebrity-type people here, people that want to come be a part of what’s happening on gameday. It’s going to be, everyone’s watching. So it’d be great to have everyone who wants to come watch be here. For us, I told the guys this, with GameDay and everything coming here as well, for the guys to try to take as much off their plate, other than maybe a few extra interviews towards the end of the week.

“The main thing is they get prepared to play the best football game that they’ve played this year. I always challenge them to play the best football game they’ve ever played in their career. That’s what matters when it comes down to what we can control. But yeah, it is kinda cool to have a lot of people who want to come be part of the atmosphere and add to the excitement and energy that the game will bring.”

DeBoer on what made SEC teams he faced in the past different…

“I think you’re asking before I came here right, kind of what the perception was? You always just felt like physicality, speed and I think as much as anything you sometimes had a player here or a player there that could compete against that person across from them. But the problem is, especially with special teams, the magnitude of depth of a roster in the SEC. When one guy comes out, another guy comes in and he’s almost just as good if not as good.

“What that does is that gives the guy coming off the field a chance to get a breather and come out and be fresh. That’s to me a big part of what makes the SEC what it is. You’ve got you’re top-tier, top-round draft picks that are out there making plays for you. The physicality, the speed, gamebreakers, on both sides of the ball at all times. And then you have the depth of that being much deeper than most programs are able to have, pretty much all programs are able to have.”

DeBoer on what stands out about Georgia’s defense…

“Kind of aligned with the same answer I just gave is you’re going to have a lot of physicality, a lot of speed. But you’ve got a system that’s in place where guys are understanding and trusting who’s going to be where. So what you’ve got to try to do is create opportunities with your matchups, create opportunities and try to do what you can do to get a step. Or maybe have the defense freeze or flinch. That’s offensive football. You try to do that any week. But that’s what becomes a bigger test when you have a program like this that has so much continuity in what they’ve been doing because of their system and especially on the defensive side of the ball.”

DeBoer on leaning on veteran players’ experience against Georgia… 

“Well, you look back to last year, right? And this is a new team. This is a new season, and that’s why I always make sure we’re emphasizing that this is the 2024 Alabama Crimson Tide football team. But there’s certainly learning moments that you have when you’ve been through the experiences. 

“That’s not obviously me, that’s our players as you mentioned that can take those experiences and give them confidence, give them an understanding of what it takes. You try to give them the platform, you try to give them a chance to be able to spread what they’ve learned to the rest of the team and understanding it’s going to be a four quarter game. Understand that there’s going to be ebbs and flows in the game, that the physicality isn’t just going to be here and there, it’s every single play. So you got to be on your A-game the entire start to finish, and do it as long as it’s needed. So you take those guys with those experiences and you make sure they get a chance to spread what they’ve learned with the rest of the football team.” 

DeBoer on his first SEC game as the Alabama coach…

“Every game, like you said, is a first — first road trip, first game in Bryant-Denny, first conference game. But I think you really just try to simplify it. Any big game, you know, the next one is always the biggest one, right? You win this one, the next one becomes the main one and so forth. For us it’s just really honing in and trying to simplify it down to what you really have control of and it’s making sure our energy, attitude and effort is on point. And that we’re going to continue to fight, it’s the battle that’s going to happen on Saturday, but that our preparation is 100 percent where it needs to be. That’s what’s going to give you the confidence, that’s what’s going to give you the belief and trust when it comes to those big moments that are going to present themselves on Saturdays.” 

DeBoer on Malachi Moore, Qua Russaw…

“I would expect Malachi – that was just a matter of time, working through his situation. He’s out there practicing already at the end of last week. And with Qua, still taking the steps, still working through his situation. I’m optimistic with Qua. We’ll just have to see as we evaluate throughout the week, what that looks like for him.”

DeBoer on Cole Adams, Richard Young…

“Cole practiced here, not 100 percent of practice, but he’s out there competing and doing some things with the activities that we have. Even some competitive drills. So we’re just working him back slowly. And Richard is the same case. He’s been out there, been in uniform and going through the drills and working back slowly. With the bye week, you never wanna not push, but we also had to make sure we’re doing what’s smart with these guys and not setting themselves up for any setbacks. And so both of those guys are kind of in the same boat, too.”

DeBoer on Yhonzae Pierre… 

“He’s got a taste of it (playing in the first few weeks) and once that happens there’s an excitement that happens. It’s fun seeing a guy like that realize that every day matters, that his growth is just exponentially going to happen especially with his age. Him taking those practices seriously is what you love to see so that he can prove to himself, his teammates, coaches, all of us that he’s headed the right direction wants to be prepared for getting on the football field more each and every week.” 

DeBoer on the importance of time of possession vs. Georgia… 

“Time of possession is always an interesting stat, right? Just because we saw one gamebeginning the season (Western Kentucky), our time possession was not in our favor drastically. Explosive plays and things like that, scoring points is what it’s all about. In order score points, you do have to have explosive plays. There’s just statistical analysis that shows that. 

“But there is a piece to also not having one side of the ball on the football field, especially your defense, and how that will wear you down especially in a game like this when you know it’s gonna be physical. You want to have that opportunity to play team football. We want to make sure that exists so that one side of the ball, especially the defense, isn’t out there becoming vulnerable as the game goes on. We take a lot of pride in being a second half team, being a fourth quarter team whether that’s our understanding and learning of what we’ve seen in the first half and applying it, or especially with the fourth quarter and the physical training that comes along with being prepared to be able to be great in those moments.” 

DeBoer on being a home underdog for the first time since 2007…

“That’s no one’s fault that that’s the case, but obviously, even if there’s one doubter, that falls along with the LANK mentality. That’s what we get to do is let any of the naysayers know what we’re capable of. Again, that’s no one’s fault that that’s what it is. That’s a tribute to what people see in Georgia and how high level of a football team that they have, and to their credit, that’s exactly what they are. And then for us, it’s just a matter of doing what we can do and making sure that we present the best version of what we can be on Saturday, again, through great preparation, great focus, making sure that we’re feeling great about what we have, because we do.

“We feel like we have a football team is a top-tier team that just every day is gonna continue to get better. And that’s not just this week, that’s not just next week. That’s all season long. We really feel the sky is the limit. You have to catch some breaks here along the way, whether that’s health or those big moments in games that get the swing in your favor. And so you create those breaks, and that’s, again, where us just going to work, focusing on the main things, focusing on ourselves, focusing on us, that’s what matters most.”

DeBoer on if games like this are why he took the Alabama job…

“Yeah, no question. And I told our guys that yesterday when we met. Even though there was some work done last week, schematically, offense, defense, when we got together as a team we just talked about the game and just really having some perspective. You’re exactly right, you come to this place here at Alabama to be a part of games that gather a lot of attention. To be in an atmosphere and an environment that’s just special and different. So embrace it. Embrace the challenges. Embrace the things that are going to come our way against great football teams. That’s what you’ve got to learn about being a competitor. So, yes, you’re exactly right. We came here, all of us different journeys, players, staff, came here in different ways to be a part of something like this that you’re going to see on Saturday.”

DeBoer on Georgia’s success in big games; how to match that…

“There’s got to be a belief and trust when it comes to close games you can see finding a way comes down to wanting it, preparing. Because you do want it, preparing in a special way. They’ve just got great continuity. The physicality you see. The schemes, the schematics, especially defense that goes way back and Coach Smart has implemented his system and has a lot of people now around him that have carried that on over the years as well.

“Offensively, now you see some carryover from the last couple years with consistency there. With that comes confidence, with that comes belief and for us that’s what we’re establishing too. That’s what we’re working on daily is just to be efficient and putting that into our program, creating that, it happens because of the success our guys have had together. I think now you’re just trying to offensively, defensively, special teams wise, just trying to keep it simple so they can go out there and play fast, but also make it complex enough to where it’s tough to defend.”

DeBoer on Alabama facing a top-10 team in its SEC opener for the first time in over a decade…

“That’s interesting. I actually didn’t know that. Yeah, welcome to the SEC, right? But that’s going to happen throughout the season. There’s going to be a lot of great teams that we’re going to face. Being at your best that’s what’s required of me, that’s what’s required of all of us. It comes down to just going to work, rolling up your sleeves and enjoying all that that comes with these big challenges that are in front of you each and every week.”

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