Nick Saban gives vote of confidence for Kalen DeBoer: 'I think his way will work'

Alabama enters the Third Saturday in October as the nation’s No. 7 team and a 5-1 record. But after a huge win over then-No. 2 Georgia to end the month of September, the Crimson Tide has since lost on the road at Vanderbilt and won a shaky game against South Carolina.

Former Alabama head coach Nick Saban appeared on The Pat McAfee Show on Friday and was asked about the patience, or lack thereof, for Kalen DeBoer after a rocky start to October.

“I can’t make any predictions about the future in terms of what people’s patience will be,” Saban said. “They don’t have a lot of patience at Alabama. They have high expectations. You can’t get caught up in that. You got to focus on what you got to do to make the team play as well as you can and don’t let any of that stuff affect you.

“I think that’s one of the things that allowed me to not lose my mind while I was there. Because we got criticized every time we lost a game. I don’t know how many times I heard Paul Finebaum say, ‘This is the beginning of the end.’ It never was. But he said it a lot. You only have to lose one game with Paul.”

DeBoer took over the Alabama football program after Saban announced his retirement on Jan. 10. While the start of his tenure in Tuscaloosa was smooth, there was quite a bit of transition as the transfer window opened for 30 days. Saban made note of that on Friday.

“One thing that doesn’t get acknowledged is the fact that when I retired, there was 26 players that transferred,” Saban said. “Nobody talks about that. Isaiah Bond, he’s a pretty good player. He would be an impact player if he was still at Alabama, especially with some of the players they have now. Then (Kadyn) Proctor leaves, then he comes back. Caleb Downs is – I mean, look, I looked at all the guys in the draft last year because I did the draft. He was a freshman, and if he was a junior or senior in the draft, he would have been probably the first safety taken in the draft. That’s a pretty significant player.

“They really lost a lot, and people don’t talk about that. Now, they got a few guys in. I do think there’s going to be a transition, and he’s got to get his people in there. He’ll get the opportunity to recruit them and do it.”

"This is a tough transition for Kalen DeBoer & he has to do what he does his way..

He's been successful & I think that his way will work..

He's a good guy & he's a good coach..

I'm just trying to be supportive & helpful in any way that I can" ~ Nick Saban #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/biyIrdnjkk

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) October 18, 2024

DeBoer took over an Alabama program that was healthy and competing for championships, but replacing a legend like Saban still had its challenges, as the last two weeks have shown.

Saban went through a similar situation in 1995 at Michigan State when he took over as the head coach of the Spartans after George Perles, who led the team for the previous 12 years.

“He had a lot of people who really believed in what he did,” Saban said of Perles. “The discipline, the culture he created. So when I went there, I was expected to do things almost exactly as he did them because I had been on the staff. But yet through the years I learned some other ways to do things because of being with (Bill) Belichick and some people like that.

“Sometimes I felt a little bit like, ‘Why aren’t you doing things a certain way.’”

Saban offered a vote of confidence for DeBoer following some recent skepticism from fans.

“I do think this is a tough transition for Kalen,” Saban said. “Any time you take over a successful program – I don’t want to be judgmental about what they do, because I think he has to do what he does his way. He can’t be me. He can’t try to be somebody that he isn’t. I think there’s more than one way to skin a cat, and I actually think the guy has been successful and I think his way will work.

“I just think it’s an adjustment for a lot of fans and people. But I think he’ll win them over because he’s a good guy and he’s a good coach. He’s got a good system and a good organization. I’m just trying to be supportive and helpful any way that I can so he can make a smooth transition.”

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