What the Third Saturday in October Means to Alabama's Coaching Staff

Kalen DeBoer addresses Tennessee rivalry and cigar tradition ahead of his first rivalry game as Alabama head coach.

Oct 23, 2021; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide fans celebrate with the traditional cigar during the second half of a victory over the Tennessee Volunteers at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Butch Dill-Imagn Images / © Butch Dill-Imagn Images

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- The No. 7 Alabama football program head to Knoxville this weekend to take on the No. 11 Tennessee Volunteers in what will be the Crimson Tide coaching staff's first rivalry game in their new roles.

Sure, Alabama welcomed Georgia to Tuscaloosa in Week 5, but the Crimson Tide and Bulldogs aren't officially rivals. This week the Crimson Tide heads to Neyland Stadium to take on the Volunteers in one of the SEC's biggest rivalry games.

"Yeah, I've been told it's a big deal. I know it's a big deal," Alabama head coach Kalen DeBeor said. "You see it from afar. These are the games, much like we've had already one or couple here, you know, the big ones that are on the schedule. As a coach, they're all big, right? In different ways and you take them one at a time, but certainly understand the significance of the rivalry and the guys are going to be very motivated to go out and do their best and prepare well and be great on Saturday."

This weekend will be DeBoer's first "Third Saturday in October" but there are staff memebers that have participated in the rivalry before. Alabama assistants Robert Gillespie and Freddie Roach were both in Knoxville two seasons ago as the Volunteer faithful stormed the field, while offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan spent three seasons in Knoxville as a graduate assistant.

"I think just the passion, the intensity of the game," Sheridan said."That's what stands out to me the most. The environments you compete in are as good as it gets in college football so that's what stands out the most in this game."

Sheridan spent two of those three matchups in Knoxville but ended on the losing end all three times falling 34-20 in 2014, 19-14 in 2015 and 49-10 in 2016.

The Alabama faithful lit their cigars after a dramatic second-half comeback last season in Tuscaloosa but the Crimson Tide coaching staff isn't focused on tobacco as the matchup will go a long way to determining both program's post season fate.

"I know that this tradition goes back quite a ways," Deboer said. "I know that cigars are a part of it but I know that what I'm trying to do is just make sure we do our part as a football program and prepare so that people can celebrate and enjoy the rivalry on our end. A lot of respect for Tennessee, their coaches, their players, but we're just pouring into the things that we can control, what we can focus and what to bring that joy to, not just the hard work we put in personally and within this team, but also so our fanbase can enjoy that as well."