Kalen DeBoer's message after first loss at Alabama: 'Stay the course'

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Kalen DeBoer reiterated the same feelings he had on Saturday after Alabama’s 40-35 loss to Vanderbilt. The Crimson Tide head coach and everyone else at the Mal M. Moore Athletic Facility were “disappointed, upset, fired up, etc.” following the upset.

“No one feels worse about this than all of us here in this building,” DeBoer said on Monday.

But DeBoer, who has had an even-keeled approach since he took the job in January, isn’t ready to hit the panic button after Alabama’s first loss to the Commodores since 1984. The Tide is 4-1 (1-1 SEC), has one of the best wins of the year under its belt and has all of its goals still in front of it, including the SEC Championship Game and four-team playoff.

“We have a great football team,” DeBoer said. “I’m convinced of that. I have no doubt of that. I believe in these guys. I believe in them more when I see the resiliency that they have, whether it’s during the games that we’ve played, not just this last game, but different games. 

“… They got fight in them. They want to win bad.”

The loss to Vanderbilt was embarrassing, especially one week after beating then-No. 2 Georgia at home. But for the most part, Alabama has been level-headed in its response since Saturday. DeBoer was asked about the fans who want to see more frustration from him on the sideline or in his time in front of reporters, to which he said, “I’m extremely frustrated.”

“We all are,” DeBoer said. “But we’re not gonna lose our cool over that.

“… I think that’s me seeing what already is happening in 30 minutes, 20 minutes after the game’s over. And I saw extreme frustration. I saw guys wanting to stick together, wanting to still do something special, believing in each other, expressing that.

“I had my part in there, too, where we understood what happened and that it’s not up to our standard and how we had to proceed forward. And so yeah, we were all extremely frustrated. But we aren’t gonna sit and lose our cool because I don’t think that’s the right way to go about it. There’s a time and place for everything.”

DeBoer continued, “We’re still early in the season. We left ourselves a little less wiggle room to achieve some of the goals we have, but those goals are still out there. And we need to just focus on what our whole mindset is, is to always improve every single day. 

“And that’s never gonna change. And to improve, I think you’ve gotta have things in perspective and focus on the right areas, and our whole team is doing that.”

Alabama will look to rebound on Saturday, Oct. 12, when it welcomes South Carolina to Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium. The Tide will need to play better defensively in its matchup with the Gamecocks as it attempts to get back on track after a letdown performance.

DeBoer shared his message to the team as Alabama looks to get back in the win column.

“You stay the course,” DeBoer said. “Stay the course, right, but everything is always just digesting what happened, having some perspective, and having the answers for the guys. 

“That’s what we have to make sure we do as coaches, so we can walk away understanding what we can control, how we need to fix it, and just knowing that the next game, there’s going to be different matchups that are strengths for us. There’s also going to be different matchups and ways that an opponent attacks us. I’m not just talking offensively, but defensively. 

“… You have to continue to work on your area, keep it within the team concept, stay the course and just keep fighting, keep playing and stick together. That’s, to me, the biggest thing, and I’ve seen nothing but that here in the last 24, 48 hours.”

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