IN SURVIVAL MODE AT ALABAMA, KALEN DEBOER MAKES NICK SABAN A BACKDROP
His first huge game was a success, thanks to Jalen Milroe and Ryan Williams, and at some point, the TV cameras might minimize their Saban sensations and highlight the new coach in his top-rated glory
The nagging temptation was to show Nick Saban in a suite, his fist clenched, while his thrilled wife celebrated the new coach on the Alabama sideline. But soon enough Saturday night, the TV truck remained isolated on the startling, flabbergasting profile of Kalen DeBoer. Who is he? Where did he come from? Why was he in a stadium where fans are overwhelmed by statues of the legends?
Did anyone know? He was about to survive Georgia, as Saban had done so often, taking a 28-0 lead that shockingly became a 34-33 hole before Jalen Milroe transformed into a potential Heisman Trophy winner. He threw the ball to freshman Ryan Williams, who is only 17 and wore a piece of helmet tape — “KILL EVERYBODY” — that wouldn’t have survived one practice play in the past. And this would be a 75-yard touchdown, with about two minutes left, and the cameras shot to DeBoer in a 41-34 classic.
Now we know him. We think.
“We expect to win these games,” he said. “Of course, the locker room is full of excitement, but I also want to make sure they realize that’s the expectation.”
Win, as they always do, leading to musical odes through time: “They call Alabama the Crimson Tide …” In a cap and a black hoodie, engulfing a tanned face juiced for decades of love, DeBoer reminded us why Saban recommended him for a role that produced six national championships in Tuscaloosa and seven overall. We’re still not certain where the path started, knowing he arrived at Washington and reached last season’s title game after beginning his career in Sioux Falls. There are people in the Southeast who aren’t sure if South Dakota is part of America, but in a trail of upward mobility, he moved to Southern Illinois, Eastern Michigan, Indiana, Fresno State and Seattle. Saban knew him. When he announced his retirement, he mentioned DeBoer to school executives.
They don’t care in the state of Saban and Bear Bryant, of bronze and prominence, about his background search. When so many folks weren’t sure about DeBoer, they are enthused he whipped the rivals. That quickly, Alabama has carried on without Saban, who headed to an ABC studio where the replacement joined him.
How did he feel upon arriving on campus for his first team meeting? “I knew that coming in, that Friday night, meeting with those guys, it would be dead quiet," DeBoer said. “Them having a lot of questions.”
“But the real advantage that you had,” said Saban, “was that they were really tired of my ass.”
This was Saban’s way of welcoming him. “I think Kalen has done a fantastic job in transition, which is not easy when you take over a successful program,” he said. “He respects the tradition here. He honored the success that we have, but actually put the stamp on the program relative to how he wanted to do it, and the players have really bought into it, and I think it's reflected in the way he's played this year. I think he’s one of the few guys who could have done this as seamlessly.”
All you had to see was the distressed look of Kirby Smart. He was the one who told Saban, kiddingly, that it was time to retire. The day happened, and rather than resume as the sport’s reigning prince, Smart was bludgeoned by the newbie, who made more of Milroe than we saw last season — as the NFL quakes. “I tried to tell everyone how fast this guy was. No one believed me,” Saban said. Oh, we know. DeBoer and the offensive coaches lit him up for two scoring passes and two touchdowns and 117 rushing yards for two more scores. He is the first player to manage 300 passing yards, 100 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns against a top-five opponent.
“Obviously, we were not really prepared, and that falls on me in the first half,” said Smart, the Georgia coach, who falls to 1-6 in the series. “We didn't do a great job, especially defensively. We also gave them short fields. With a quarterback like Jalen Milroe, it creates a lot of tough times.”
Carson Beck wilted, made a second-half run, then threw an interception in the end zone that finished the Bulldogs’ regular-season winning streak at 42 games. A 12-team national tournament makes something less of these September matchups — even in the SEC, where “It Just Means More” takes a slight hit — and don’t be shocked if both teams are involved in the January semifinals.
Importantly, DeBoer did not fade. Return to January. Why did the plane not arrive in DeBoer’s courtship before he made sure Williams wasn’t de-committing? He knew already that Milroe would find the kid in big games, for 177 passing yards this time. “I can’t get tackled,” Williams said afterward. “I did a spin move and it was like in slow motion. It looked faster on the screen. We’d come too far. Somebody has to make a play. Nah, I ain't got to be a mailbox. He knows what's up. He knows four plus two equals six. I know four plus two equals six. The ball's just got to go in the air.”
Milroe is No. 4. Williams is No. 2.
“He's only going to get better, and the best thing about him is that he's always working, always doing something to become a better player, the work in the dark that not everyone sees,” Milroe said. “It's what we do from here that matters, building on this. What we're seeing now is all the work we put in this offseason, the way the coaches believed in us and then some of the younger guys we brought in. Just got to keep growing, all of us.”
Said linebacker Jihaad Campbell, raving about Williams: “Man, when I first saw him, he was this skinny kid. Then you got him on the practice field, and he's been doing things like that ever since. That's just who he is. That's the standard at Alabama, and it just filters down to the players, to everybody.”
On an evening when Donald Trump was in the house, hearing chants of “USA! USA!” from many of the 100,077 fans, DeBoer proved his own succession plan was in place. He realizes Saban, who still has an office, might slip in to help any morning, afternoon or evening. “I didn’t know Nick retired to spend more time coaching,” he said, smiling. “I thought that was my job now, but sometimes, I’m not sure. He’s everywhere, like a defensive coordinator lurking in a safety’s blind spot.”
But as his team soars in the rankings, to No. 1, he knows the sports world isn’t discussing Saban. “When you face a really good football team, you know there’s going to be a strong push. We pushed each other to the end,” DeBoer said. “But you’ve got to keep fighting. And if you like the matchup, you go after it. And Jalen liked what he saw, obviously, and delivered, and Ryan did the rest for him.”
In due time, Saban met up with his wife and returned home. He can sleep in Sunday, if he wants. Kalen DeBoer, who is 49 from Milbank, S.D., has Vanderbilt and South Carolina before a majestic clash at Tennessee. Saban will be there for the network.
The TV director can stop showing him during the game. The substitute is front and center now.
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Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.