Nick Saban: Kalen DeBoer Has Done a 'Fantastic Job' Transitioning to Alabama

DeBoer had a lot on his plate, perhaps more than any coach in the history of the sport, but he's gained the support of the team, coaches, fans and even the future players as Alabama currently holds the No. 1 overall recruiting class for 2025.

Jan 13, 2024; Tuscaloosa, AL, USA; The University of Alabama introduced new head football coach Kalen DeBoer with a press conference at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Terry Saban and former Alabama head coach Nick Saban listen to the press conference. / Gary Cosby Jr.-Tuscaloosa News / USA

Everybody Alabama fan remembers where they were when ESPN's Chris Low posted on Twitter the news that Crimson Tide football head coach Nick Saban had retired on Jan. 10.

The massive mix of emotions surrounding not just Alabama, but the entire college football world over the next few hours of that announcement had millions wondering what would happen next to the team that won six National Championships since 2009.

Two days later, on Jan. 12, after what seemed like a long coaching search at the time came to a conclusion as Alabama hired Washington head coach Kalen DeBoer to take on the task of filling Saban's shoes. DeBoer had just led Washington to a National Championship appearance and was named the AP College Football Coach of the Year.

DeBoer had a lot on his plate, perhaps more than any coach in the history of the sport, but he's gained the support of the team, coaches, fans and even the future players as Alabama currently holds the No. 1 overall recruiting class for 2025.

Just seconds prior to DeBoer taking the stage at SEC Media Days on Wednesday morning, Saban, now an analyst, commended his successor's early efforts in taking on the extremely difficult task of taking over the Alabama football program.

"I think this transition is something that people really need to appreciate," Saban said. "Kalen's done a fantastic job. Taking the place of any coach in this day and age is very difficult."

Coaches typically leave their programs due to being offered a better role by another team or they were fired due to poor performance. However, Saban, 72, retired from a program that has been the most dominant in all of college football for 15 years and made the College Football Playoff semifinal last season. Having to start over despite having an elite team and staff from the year before takes a lot of work, and Saban commended DeBoer for the tough decisions he's had to make since Jan. 12.

"When you had a successful program, you come in, players can get in the portal, you got really good people on the staff so you didn't take over a 2-12 program, you took over a 12-2 program," Saban said. "You want to keep the good things, you want to get rid of some things you'd like to keep in the way you like to do things, but at the same time you want to keep as much continuity as possible and you have a very limited amount of time to try and recruit players, keep players there, not let them get in the portal, pick the staff you want to keep, bring the staff that you want for it to go for you and I think Kalen DeBoer has done a fantastic job with that."

Saban has said in the past that he'd make himself available to help the program despite being retired and he discussed who he's been approached by.

"I've not been in the building since the day I retired, but those guys come over and see me all the time, (DeBoer's) come over and seen me a couple of times," Saban said. "We've spent an hour together here and there, the defensive coordinator, recruiting coordinator comes over, so I'm involved and I want them to be successful and they've done a fantastic job in this transition. The players have really bought into it too."