"It wasn't just gonna fall apart": When Kalen DeBoer recalled his first transfer portal experience at Alabama

One of the first challenges Kalen DeBoer faced after taking the Alabama job was the mass exodus of Crimson Tide players. Following Nick Saban's retirement, several players entered the transfer portal to continue their college football careers elsewhere.

In an interview with Fox Sports' Joel Klatt in July 2024, DeBoer described how he stopped the wave of the mass exodus when he arrived in Tuscaloosa. The coach detailed what his message to the players looked like and how he was able to gain their confidence a that moment.

“Once we got past those first few days, and I think they kind of felt like ‘OK, we can give this a chance,’ DeBoer said (Timestamp: 22:40), “we got the staff in place and just the culture started coming through and our daily talks and how we did things in practice and the energy we brought.

“There was some great continuity here in the program whether it's Dave Ballou with the strength staff or Jeff Allen with the training room, many of the player development staff and some others around the program that really were just so critical to the transition and helping me out but also helping these guys out.

“So, once we got past that first week or two, I really felt comfortable that you might lose a guy at some point over those 30 days, but it wasn't just gonna fall apart, and we were gonna get a chance in spring ball.”

While Kalen DeBoer was able to keep some players after Nick Saban's exit, Alabama recorded a noteworthy departure of players during that period, including Caleb Downs, Isaiah Bond, Julian Sayin and Amari Niblack.

Kalen DeBoer was confident of attaining stability in the spring

While he had to deal with a tumultuous period in his early days at Alabama, Kalen DeBoer was confident his team would attain stability when spring practice opened. It was an opportunity to show the players what to expect following the sudden departure of Nick Saban.

“I knew once we got into spring ball, we'd be OK,” DeBoer said (Timestamp: 23:30). “Because they'd enjoy the way we coached, the way we operated and the expectations weren't gonna fall off. The expectations were gonna be at a high level. The standard, as we refer to it here, was gonna be at a high level. It just might be messaged a different way.”

Kalen DeBoer was able to build a level of confidence within the Crimson Tide program and across Tuscaloosa in his first few months. While his first season in charge of the team was disappointing by Alabama’s standards, there's a lot of hope about what's to come.