Everything Kalen DeBoer Said After Alabama's First Fall Practice

A full transcript of everything the Alabama coach said after Alabama opened fall camp.

The Crimson Tide works out on the first day of practice for the 2024 season Wednesday, July 31, 2024. Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer presides over his team as the prep for his first season as head coach. / Gary Cosby Jr.-Tuscaloosa News / USA TODAY NETWORK

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama opened fall camp on Wednesday morning, officially kicking off the 2024 football season. After practice, head coach Kalen DeBoer spoke to the media. Below is a full transcript of DeBoer's press conference:

Opening statement:

“Like most first practices, great energy, guys were excited to get out there. Can’t remember any times where you had to coach up the excitement and passion. That was all there. These guys have worked hard. We’re excited about practice one.

“Always going to be far from perfect, but each side had its moments and made plays and that’s what you want. I love being the head coach in those times. The assistants want every play to be perfect, so they win half and lose half and I get to win all the time because I get to choose the side that wins on that play.

“It’s good having that give and take and I felt that’s what we had.

“Welcome to the South, for me in particular; just practice in a little bit warmer than the rest of the summer. It hit us here on practice one. The guys grinded through it. They kept getting stronger as the day went on, which is what you want to see. They kept their spirits high through the very last rep.”

On expectations for Ryan Williams:

“Consistently, just on this trajectory [indicating up] on up. I don’t need him Day One. You want every play to be amazing, explosive, but you just want him lining up right, doing the fundamental things, making the easy plays, and then because of his ability the big ones will come. When you’re out there running good routes, catch the ball, accelerate out with good ball security. You find those consistent fundamentals and you stack days and those plays we know he is capable of making will happen.”

On Kadyn Proctor:

“I don’t have a huge understanding of what he was a year ago other than watching on film. It feels like he’s in really good shape, and lean., When you ask people who would have an understanding, Coach Ballou and so forth, it would be nothing but positive about the progress he has made. Strength and explosive numbers I know are up, that’s fact, that’s real. And also the way his body looks. Leaner. He’s just so dense and has so much mass he’s going to be big no matter what.

“Love his demeanor out there. Good to have him back. Good to have him here.”

On conditioning:

“No, you won’t see me like that [wearing a sweat suit]. That’s his thing. Let him do that. The strength staff, Coach Ballou, he’s been doing this year now. He knows what that takes this summer, even going back into winter. For me it’s now getting into football shape. You try to replicate that as best you can, and I know he’s all over it. But there’s still something about putting pads on, having that helmet on, some guys were a mask, breathing through that thing, some of them having a mouthpiece in, all that good stuff. The guys had a good day out there today.”

On transfers in secondary:

“I really like to see the film before I make too many comments on missed assignments or anything like that. One or two plays might have happened because those guys being in there and just not instinct completely, but that’s expected. Practice one, new faces out there on the field, but I love their energy, I love their attitude, they give great effort. They’ve really meshed with the whole team. I think there’s a ton of respect by their teammates and that’s what you want.

“A lot of that starts with their character and the work ethic that follows along.

“They have ability, no it’s just a matter of getting those reps so they can be confident in themselves, and others can be confident and believing and knowing they are going to be in the right spot and that’s the direction I think they are headed.”

On what he saw on Day 1; how he handles a bad day of practice:

“You’ve gotta be real, and that’s what I tell our guys. I’m gonna tell our team on a Sunday after a game what it was. It’s tell the truth Sunday, and we’ve gotta be real. When it comes to games, everyone will see it. If you’ve gotta be better or if it was a great day, I think it’s usually pretty obvious. And when it comes to practice, yeah, we can’t just gloss over things. We’ve gotta understand where we’re at, and we have relationships with each other, so we keep it real and hold each other accountable. Today, I thought it was a great practice. Any time and every day, there’s things to learn from. You learn from the good, you learn from the bad. You learn from others’ mistakes and your own. A lot of that happened today, the good and the bad, the mistakes, and we get to go watch film, we get to talk about it here in a team meeting and we’ve gotta work. But it was a positive day. I really feel like we’ve made the most of every practice since we’ve been here, going back to the spring. Some are obviously gonna be better than others.”

On if the offense or defense is ahead; what happened to his leg…

“Our custodians do a really good job mopping the floors, and I didn’t realize it. But that’s not on them. That’s on me.“As far as who won or who’s ahead, I guess, I don’t really feel like there’s one side of the ball. I think there’s position groups within that are continuing to rise up. I think it’s pretty balanced across the board with the whole team.”

On establishing communication with Jalen Milroe in the spring…

“I just try the most racks. When I talk about a rack, it’s what are the four or five plays he wins for a drive. In practice, I just love following up with him. He just takes all the coaching, and he knows we’re gonna coach him up. That’s my job. You talk about teaching and critiquing and demanding excellence and the best, and he takes that. Every play, looking for it and working to be better. I thought he had a really solid day all around, and I know he’s far from reaching what he will be become next week, much less the first game.”

On if there are difficulties getting guys used to morning practices…

“I think certainly. I think that a few guys, even though we really pushed it hard, I think they underestimate just the fuel they’ve gotta get in their bodies, which leads to cramping and things like that. So they’ll learn from it. That’s part of this process. That’s part of we talk about them grinding every day, refining everything, whether it’s note-taking in the meetings to their craft and the technique they have to, ‘Man, I’ve gotta eat more. I’ve gotta get more sleep. I’ve gotta drink more, hydrate and all that.’ So I think there’s a couple guys, when you go really follow up on the cramping, it’s like, ‘What did you eat?’ They didn’t eat enough. That will become a positive. We test throughout the week. We don’t want that cumulative fatigue that can happen, and by practicing and the schedule that we’ll be on, I just feel like we’ve got it down to where these guys will understand it and be able to adjust accordingly and take advantage of it, not fall fatigue to it.”

On how DaShawn Jones’ experience can help at cornerback…

“He’s taken some snaps at the college football level. So we need him out there. I think there’s a confidence about him just because of that that, yeah, we need in our program always but also in that position room. All of those guys, the cool thing is, I think, they all respect each other and just pushing each other, learning every single day. Coach Mo is doing an awesome job.”

On the importance of fall camp for the offensive line to mesh…

“It’s huge, it’s huge. I mean, that’s where it all starts. I think your team is always gonna be maximized based on what your offensive line can do because it sets the tempo and it forces the defensive line and linebackers to really do a good job of fitting their gaps in the run. And you can protect the quarterback to where he can go through his reads and receivers having time to go through their routes, defensive backs now having to make plays because the protection is there. So these guys up front really a couple of them haven’t been there throughout the spring, but like you said, Parker is now back in there. Kadyn here. Pritchett took a lot of reps. He had a nice day. I thought Wilkin did a nice job. So a lot of mixing and matching, especially at the tackle position, I guess. The interior three was pretty consistent. But their reps are gonna be really critical for our success and them gelling.”

On Jehiem Oatis:

"He was almost ready right at the end of spring ball. He had a great summer and I'm really excited about what he's gonna bring to the table for us. He was right on the verge. If we'd had one more week of spring ball, we would've probably made sure he was out there at that time."

On bringing in speakers:

"The team doesn't know those names yet so I can't say who. We will certainly have some guys. Around here especially, it's important to me to try to lay that culture, make sure it's right where we want it. I eat up a lot of that time, whether it's things I've done in the past. The one thing our guys, they're still finishing summer school here in a the next few days. There will be a couple weeks where they don't have anything but football. We'll bring some speakers in, I think it's great to hear from people who have been through it, experienced great things. It's been a tradition here, I know. Something the guys really enjoy. This year, I also wanted to dial down a little bit and make sure the right messaging is coming from me and my staff.

On visiting different position groups during practice

"If I'm gonna that I have a relationship with all of them I need to get around, and they need to see me, and that I care about their progress and coach them up, sitting in the meeting rooms and knowing exactly the details they're being taught, so I can emphasize that as well. And then when they come up and see me in my office it's not just general conversations, it's we can pop on the film and really talk through because I know what's being taught, and the reps, and we have that relationship. That's what I feel is a strength of myself and my staff, it's all of us working together.

On freshman defensive backs

"They had a good spring, had some technical work in the summer. But now here they get it another time around. That growth, you always hear growth from year one to year two, for me it's from the spring to the fall, it's the second time they've heard the lingo, the language, how they're being taught, the reps. So what we need to see from them is taking that next big step. Then, much like your question with Ryan, just seeing that consistency. Consistency builds trust, and that trust is gonna be something that whether old or young, we've all got to gel with whoever's on the football field. There's gotta be that trust with them so they can have the confidence to go out and make plays.