Kalen DeBoer has help maintaining Saban’s standard at Alabama

One of the hardest things new Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer will have to do in Tuscaloosa is deal with expectations.

He took over arguably the greatest college program of all time from arguably the greatest college football coach of all time in Nick Saban.

Tide fans enjoyed six championships under Saban as well as multiple seasons in a row of being college football’s “top dog”. That’s the standard Saban set at Alabama, but it came from a culture of hard work and discipline that he established.

More than anything, DeBoer has to hold on to that culture if the winning is to follow, but he revealed he’s not alone in that task. In fact, he’s got plenty of help around him.

“I think Coach [Saban] certainly pushed that standard each and every day and fortunately we have a lot of guys who understand what that’s supposed to look like,” DeBoer told the media on Monday (h/t On3). “It’s great that we have those leaders, our players, we have some staff, a few coaches that were here with Coach and they just continue to be front and center in leading the rest of the guys that are new to the program or new players that have come in. It’s something we care for a lot with the culture of our program. It’s important to me.”

Though Alabama did suffer deflections and transfers after Saban retired, several top players and even several top recruits remained committed to the Tide. DeBoer is also lucky in that he has Saban to lean on. The legendary coach has been open about his desire to be a resource to DeBoer, and that’s invaluable.

Ultimately though, it comes down to detail and discipline — two things Saban always preached.

“There’s a style of play that wins football games and that’s really what we’re focused on, but there’s a lot of details and a lot of things off the field that are really important to playing at the highest level and being this program that’s been at that level for so many years and so many decades. I appreciate those comments from Coach and that perspective,” DeBoer said.