Greg McElroy Dissects Kalen DeBoer's Comments On Alabama Culture

The Alabama Crimson Tide won’t have legendary coach Nick Saban on the sidelines for the 2024 campaign but it will still have a similar culture. At the 2024 SEC Media Days, new Crimson Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer explained how he has kept the same Alabama spirit that Saban had built over his 17 years in Tuscaloosa.

On Friday's episode of Always College Football , McElroy spoke about Deboer's comments stating that they are completely true and that the unity within the locker room at Alabama is what has made the program so dominant over Saban's tenure.

“This is truth, 100%,” McElroy said . “He’s talking about the guys really playing for each other. Coach Saban referenced this multiple times on the set. And this was something that was created for the last 17 years. When you’re at Alabama, or when you’re at Georgia, when you’re at Ohio State, when you’re playing for championships, the teams that win championships, they’re playing for their school.

McElroy continued by explaining how the culture within the program has created a "family" type of feeling - one that's void of selfishness.

“They’re playing for their family. They’re playing for the name on the back, the name on the front — like all those great things are real. That’s true, but you’re also playing because I want to help the guy next to me reach his potential.”

For DeBoer, the challenge will be infusing his own culture into the program as Alabama won’t have many players left who recall Saban’s teachings this fall. The program lost 34 players to the transfer portal this offseason and landed at No. 66 in On3’s Transfer Portal Rankings. Alabama also returns only 44% of its total production from last season, according to ESPN.

The Kalen DeBoer era officially begins on Aug. 31 when the Tide host Western Kentucky from Bryant-Denny Stadium at 7:00 pm (ET) on ESPN.

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