What Kalen DeBoer Said After His First Alabama Victory

The Crimson Tide handled Western Kentucky in the season opener on Saturday night.

Kalen DeBoer / © Will McLelland-USA TODAY Sports

The Alabama Crimson Tide opened the Kalen DeBoer era with an emphatic victory over the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers on Saturday night. DeBoer spent time with the media inside Bryant Denny Stadium after his first win in charge of the Crimson Tide.

Full Transcript

Coach Kalen DeBoer Opening Statement

"Good to get a W to start the year. I told the guys downstairs every win is something they worked hard for. Make sure we enjoy it, go back to work, there's a lot of things that we now have on film that we know we can correct and understand some things that we're really good at and some things we need to continue to work on. Proud of the way they came out, started fast, both sides of the ball feeding off each other. I thought the energy was great. Sustained it all game long and got a lot of guys a chance to play.

Ryan Williams performance...

"Yeah, he's got that big play ability as you saw and he's done a lot of that in practice and was excited to see him get out there. A big third down down the sideline, great read by Jalen with the coverage he was getting. We anticipated a possible route down the sideline in a situation like that. It was really cool to see those guys execute and Ryan just hauling in the ball and finishing and coming accross the middle on that second touchdown, just really focused and it just doesn't seem like the game's too fast for him so it was impressive that a guy his age can go out there and do the things he's doing and obviously, we talked a lot about it, he's got a bright future. Really fun to see him go out there and make those plays that he did tonight. Guys believe in him. I think one of the cool things about Ryan is that he's gone about it, a lot of attention gets thrown his way, but he's just gone about it and just really humble and just really matter of fact, stay the course type of, go to work every type of day attitude. Our guys really appreciate that and I think they're just as excited for him with the plays that he makes.

Kadyn Proctor injured in warmups...?

"Yeah, unfortunately he did. Just caught me by surprise obviously and couldn't go tonight. We'll continue to evaluate tomorrow just to see the severity of it. We'll kind of know more here as the week goes on."

Zabien Brown and Daniel Hill also playing...?

"Yeah, it's really exciting. It gives you a lot of promise for what's to come and the thing about those guys is they're just going to gain more and more confidence with everything they do. Those reps tonight, they all matter. I tell the guys, every rep, we're going to keep getting better as a team, but there's certain guys, like the ones you mentioned, Daniel [Hill] and Ryan [Williams] and many others, Zabien [Brown] that just went out there and it didn't seem like the lights were too bright for them and that's really cool. Just one day at a time, they're going to keep getting better and they're going to be great players for us in the long haul."

How explosive can the offense be? Sustained offense or big plays?

"Both, but how can you argue. There's things that weren't perfect but we made up for them. So now what you want to look at is those plays that didn't go as well and really dial in on some of the mistakes. A penalty here, a penalty there. We had a communication. I think we didn't snap the ball. I think maybe Parker was trying to signal something and get the line locked in and that's just a quarterback and center being on the same page and then all the sudden it was time to snap the ball when Jalen clapped so just things like that that we can continue to get better at, but when we have the opportunities to make the plays I'm never going to be disappointed that we're finding ways to have explosives, that's a big part of what our offense is about. We preach it. We practice it. That was fun to see. I didn't really realize it until I looked at the time of possession maybe into the first half a little bit, our defense, you saw the one drive, especially, they were on the field for quite a while, that just kind of added to it. I'm never going to argue though, when we have those big plays, those touchdowns that we have."

How about Elijah Pritchett and Keon Sabb?

"Yeah, Pritchett, really as you said. He has, I know you're not there, but he has taken pretty much all his reps at the right tackle spot. I think we really went back to what he did this spring playing left tackle and it was something I know that gave me confidence, I know it gave him and he and Booker took all those reps all spring long for 15 practices. I think they honed back in on that and I'll watch the film, but obviously there was a lot of good things that happened out there. You don't do that without great offensive line play. Excited about the way that he responded all of the sudden in the moment and getting thrown into that position and really just being steady."

"Keon Sabb, just a guy who was in the right spot at the right time and just made the plays. That's what it's all about. A lot of guys will be where they need to be and all that, but a little special play here and there maybe goes through their hands. Keon, you can see he was ready for that moment. He pounced when the opportunity came and made some really, really big plays and got our offense in some great field position there early in the game."

Impressions of first game outside of the game...

"Yeah, it was a lot of fun. The Walk of Champions I think was special for a lot of our players. It's always going to be that way. I can't thank our fans enough. You can just feel the energy even before, you're not even here, around the stadium or knowing what's going on, but you can just feel the buzz and that was a lot of fun. The news guys, especially, enjoying it. The older guys, just knowing what it's all about and being in that stadium tonight. We did a great job of giving them something to cheer for and our fans were amazing, cheering and being loud. Can't wait to do it again a week from now."

Clarifying the in-helmet communications at the beginning...

"Yeah, actually, it wasn't the in-helmet communication. It was actually that their headsets went down and the rules state that when the opponents headsets go down you have to take your headsets down too. I'm sure you guys figured it out, but Nick Sheridan, play-caller up in the booth actually had to come down and so a little time to get him down there and then that's not something that they're going to plan for and let you do but we were able to hustle him down and of course get him back up there and then theirs went down a second time and so it was kind of a back and forth. I thought our staff did a great job because that's something you don't practice. In all my years I've never had it happen to where we had to put our headphones down because of someone else's. Maybe it happens more often than I understand and we should practice it, but that was a new one for me."

"I think also the other one that was new for me. I think maybe by the third play of the game or one of the early plays we had two helmets come off of two of our lineman on the same play. So all of the sudden we had a different center, left guard and left tackle from what we practiced all along. Kids did a great job of just adjusting to the adversity. Not getting too shaken and just continuing to play and the next guys were ready to go. I thought our staff, I think there's some little things. We had a substitution error. We got 12 guys on the field one time defensively. Those are certain things that we'll talk about tomorrow, besides breaking down the film and coaching our guys up fundamentally and schematically.

Rotated a lot of guys on defense, benefit of experience...

"Yeah, it's huge. It's huge. I'm really glad that we got that opportunity. That's part of what we want to do anyways and keeping guys fresh. Being able to sustain at a high level for four quarters and not just dying off. Getting a lot of young guys. You see Mbakwe and Redder out there a lot. They're right in the rotation. Felt good about them being out there. Never really, sometimes when there's guys you don't trust or anything your eyes kind of get drawn to them just to make sure they feel good and they look confident. That's not even the case, I don't even feel like I've got to worry about if they're ready to go or not. The secondary, for the most part, they really didn't have big mistakes where all of the sudden someone's running free through the secondary and we just dropped a zone or dropped a man we're supposed to be covering. Always things that we can get better at, some situational ball, some crossers and things like that that I saw in the second half that we can get better at covering but for the most part I thought they did a great job."

Jihaad Campbell and Deontae Lawson...

"Yeah, just having some guys with a lot of confidence in themselves. Guys we have confidence in. They're just staples. They're just guys you trust. They're hard-nosed. They both can move, can run really well. They're physical, very smart. A lot of the communication, especially with Coach Wommack to Deontae. Deontae can handle what he needs to do and if there's someone we need to have just slightly moved he can make that happen and still have an understanding of what's going on through the offense. Just all those areas are so critical when it's the middle of your defense. Looking forward to watching the film, but just everything I saw it seemed like they had a great game."

Sustained defensive intensity for shutout....

"Yeah, I like the never say die, just dig in when they had their backs to the wall. Some drives that were coming down the field, one was after a turnover on the offense, just looking at that as an opportunity to make a statement. Just let everyone know that they've got that mindset. That they're going to play together. It was really cool to see them get the shutout. I was happy for them, happy for Kane and they're all flying around. There were some times we maybe missed a tackle but there was guys right there to follow up and go make that play and as we said the two interceptions early in the game really set the tone with Keon, just with field position, just with momentum and energy."

Was that fun..?

"Yeah, I think there's a little bit of fun at the very end. Just seeing a lot of the young guys too get out there on the football field and have some fun of their own experiencing it for the first time. I told the guys in the locker room, none of these points carry over to next week. There's film out there and of course there's strengths we have, but people are going to look at those areas they can attack. We've just got to continue to understand that there's a lot of potential with this football team, but we've still got a lot of work to do and it's going to be that way all season long. I think that what I saw in the locker room downstairs, whether it was the beginning of the game, the middle of the game when we had a score very much in our favor, these guys have a determination and a relentlessness about them where they want to be great. They just don't want to go out there and do their thing for a half and just kind of let the score die off and let someone hang around. They wanted the shut out. They wanted to put more points on the board and I just love their mindset."

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Follow Along For Live Updates (Most Recent Update at the Top)

• DeBoer, "I think there was a little bit of fun at the very end. A lot of young guys at the end. I told the guys in the locker room none of these points carry over into next week.
• DeBoer on defense, "I like the never say die attitude. It was really cool to see them get the shutout. I was happy for them and happy for Kane. There were some times we maybe missed a tackle but there were guys right there to follow up."
• DeBoer on rotating DBs, "It's huge. It's part of what we want to do anyways by keeping everybody fresh. You saw Mbakwe and Redder a few times tonight. I don't feel like I have to be worried about if those guys are ready to go."
• DeBoer on helmets, "Their headsets went down and so we had to take ours down. Nick Sheridan in the booth had to actually come down and that took some time. We hustled him down and then back up. I thought our staff did a great job with it. Another thing that was new for me was I think the third play of the game we had two helmets come off. The kids did a great job with it. I thought our staff did well. We had a substitution error, that's something we'll talk about tomorrow."
• Deboer on the impressions of game day, "It was a lot of fun. Walk of Champions was special for our players. I can't thank our fans enough. The news guys especially enjoying it. We did a great job of giving the fans something to cheer for and our fans were amazing."
• DeBoer on Pritchett and Keon Sabb, "Yeah, Pritchett has pretty much taken all his reps at the right tackle spot. We went back to what he did this spring playing left tackle. I'll watch the film but there were a lot of good things that happened. Keon was at the right spot at the right time and just made the plays."
• DeBoer on the offense, "How can you argue with the results. There's things that weren't perfect but we made up for it. We're finding ways to make explosives, that's what our offense is all about."
• DeBoer on Kadyn Proctor, "Unfortunately couldn't go tonight, we'll continue to evaluate tomorrow to learn the severity."
• DeBoer on Williams, "He's got that big play ability as you saw. He's been doing that in practice. We anticipated a route down the sidelines, it was really cool to see the guys execute.
• Kalen DeBoer says, "Proud of the way they came out."

This article will be updated with a full transcript from Kalen Deboer.