Kalen DeBoer is taking on what seems to be an impossible challenge.
The new Alabama football coach succeeding Nick Saban, who captured six national titles in 17 years, steps to the sideline in the glaring spotlight Saturday night when the No. 5 Crimson Tide host Western Kentucky in Tuscaloosa.
DeBoer’s legacy in his relatively brief career as a head coach is defined by winning. In nine seasons as a head coach, DeBoer accumulated a record of 104-12, including a 25-3 record at Washington last season with previous stops at Fresno State and three-time NAIA national champion Sioux Falls.
Even if a national narrative follows DeBoer tracking how he’s stacking up to Saban’s dominance at Alabama, he’s gone out of his way to acknowledge there can be only one Nick Saban.
“There will only ever be one Coach Saban. This program is special, and I guess I just take it as a great honor to be the one that gets to do everything we can to carry on the tradition,” DeBoer said at SEC Media Days.
It will be interesting to see how close Alabama’s offense comes to looking like the one DeBoer ran last season at Washington, which reached the national title game. While the Tide have believed in a power running game for years under Saban, DeBoer likes to spread the field and throw short passes, taking what the defense allows.
This game and probably most of this season is likely to be an integration of two systems as DeBoer and his staff play a mix-and-match game to get the most out of what the roster in place affords.
“We’re going to be able to have concepts and systems that are able to be adjusted to what we have and what our strengths are,” DeBoer said. “That will continue to evolve as the season goes along. You have guys who continue to improve. They’ll make those big steps, and you’ll incorporate them.”
Jalen Milroe, who proved to be a superb deep-ball thrower last year, averaging nearly 10 yards per attempt and throwing for 23 touchdowns, is back under center. Milroe is the leading returning vote-getter from last year’s Heisman Trophy race that saw him finish sixth.
Saban’s departure led to some personnel changes. Alabama lost leading tackler Caleb Downs and five-star quarterback signee Julian Sayin to Ohio State. Top receiver Isaiah Bond and starting tight end Amari Niblack left for Texas.
The Tide still have a cupboard that can best be described as well-stocked. Adding Washington center Parker Brailsford through the portal not only beefed up the offensive line but adds a sleeker look for an offensive line that will have to play more in space than it did in the Saban era.
Western Kentucky will bring a high-powered offense and a familiar foe at quarterback. Former LSU and Auburn signal-caller TJ Finley has won the starting job over Caden Veltkamp. Finley, who played at Texas State last year and helped the Bobcats to a bowl victory, is one of 33 Hilltoppers who arrived via the portal.
Finley, who threw for 3,439 yards and 24 touchdowns last year in coach G.J. Kinne’s quarterback-friendly system, now plays in another good QB system with Western Kentucky coach Tyson Helton.
“Can’t think of a better game to start with, with a great opponent in Alabama,” said Helton. “I know our guys are really excited to get the opportunity to play them. It’s just been a lot of hard work and now you finally get to go out there and play somebody other than yourself.”
Western Kentucky has been tabbed for a second-place finish in the preseason Conference USA poll. Kicker Lucas Carneiro was picked as the league’s preseason Special Teams Player of the Year.
The Tide are 3-0 in the all-time series with the Hilltoppers, beating them 38-10 in the last meeting in 2016.
