Kalen DeBoer had never coached in the South before taking Nick Saban’s job with Alabama football before the 2024 season. As far as first seasons in the SEC go, DeBoer’s 9-4 campaign wasn’t bad, though it fell short of the lofty expectations Crimson Tide fans held after Saban won six national titles in Tuscaloosa.
Speaking to reporters at SEC spring meetings on Tuesday, DeBoer fielded a question about what surprised him the most about the South. According to the coach, it wasn’t recruiting the area, nor the quality of play across the SEC.
“I think when you move around– I’m from the Midwest. I think there’s a lot more Midwest in the South than people probably realize,” DeBoer said. “Yeah, there’s different levels of heat because there’s hot and humid, that whole thing. That’s the question I get asked the most is, ‘how do you handle the weather?’ But I think when it comes to people, I think there’s just great people everywhere.”
2024 was the first year the Crimson Tide finished with less than 10 wins since Nick Saban’s 2007 debut in Tuscaloosa. Alabama frustrated its fans with losses to mediocre Vanderbilt and Oklahoma squads, along with a Michigan team that was missing most of its starters for the ReliaQuest Bowl.
The 2025 UA team will have a new quarterback, with Ty Simpson, Austin Mack and Keelon Russell all competing for the job replacing Jalen Milroe. If that position gets sorted, the Crimson Tide appears to be deeper across the board, especially at wide receiver and defensive back.
DeBoer has been successful at every stop of his career so far, and is certainly capable of doing the same at Alabama. Entering year two, the South Dakota native certainly didn’t seem scared by the folks he has encountered through one season in the South.
