Alabama's new $100M HC Kalen DeBoer breaks the mold of Nick Saban’s secretive strategy for Crimson Tide with latest move

Kalen DeBoer has made a significant change to the Alabama Crimson Tide.

DeBoer replaced Nick Saban as head coach after the long-serving coach retired following a legendary career. Since DeBoer took over, he has become the first Crimson Tide coach to send a tweet, and now he has made another change.

During Alabama's spring practices, DeBoer will reportedly make the assistant coaches available to the media, which is something Saban didn't allow.

247Sports reporter Mike Rodak took to X on Tuesday and wrote:

"Kalen DeBoer making Alabama assistant coaches available to reporters this spring. They were off-limits under Nick Saban, except as required by bowl games."

DeBoer making assistant coaches available is interesting as they can give more in-depth answers on certain players and position groups, which the head coach may not know.

Alabama's begin spring ball on Monday and will have 15 practices, as mandated by the NCAA.

Kalen DeBoer's assistant coaches

Kalen DeBoer had finalized his coaching staff for his first season with the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Alabama's 10 on-field assistant coaches for the 2024 college football season are as follows:

• Offensive coordinator/Quarterbacks: Nick Sheridan*
• Running backs/Assistant head coach: Robert Gillespie*
• Wide receivers/Co-Offensive Coordinator: JaMarcus Shepard*
• Tight ends: Bryan Ellis
• Offensive line: Chris Kapilovic
• Defensive coordinator/Inside linebackers: Kane Wommack*
• Defensive line/Associate head coach: Freddie Roach*
• Outside linebackers: Christian Robinson
• Defensive backs/Co-Defensive coordinator: Colin Hitschler
• Defensive backs/Co-Defensive coordinator Maurice Linguist
• *signifies hires officially confirmed by Alabama

Heading into the season, Kalen DeBoer and the Alabama Crimson Tide believe they have a chip on their shoulder.

"I look at it as a privilege, and not pressure, to be able to come to a place like this," DeBoer told ESPN. "I understand that there are expectations that are extremely high. But think about what the alternative is -- to be at a place that doesn't have expectations. That's not what I'm looking for, not what I've gone through to get to this point.

"I think there's maybe a common chip on our shoulder. Our players here at Alabama fell an overtime short of playing for the national championship last year. We were one step away from winning the national championship at Washington. Let's take that next step together."

The Alabama Crimson Tide will open their 2024 college football season on Aug. 31 at home against Western Kentucky.