It’s a different kind of week for Kalen DeBoer and Alabama football. For the first time since 1984, the Crimson Tide lost to Vanderbilt on Saturday in Nashville, dropping 40-35 and falling from its perch as the No. 1 team on the AP media poll.
On Wednesday DeBoer faced Alabama fans in Tuscaloosa. The first-year head coach is scheduled to make his weekly appearance on the “Hey Coach” radio show, on the Crimson Tide Sports Network, for the first time of his tenure after a loss.
DeBoer also previewed Alabama’s first matchup since the loss, a Saturday battle with South Carolina in Tuscaloosa. That game is scheduled to kick off at 11 a.m. CT Saturday, and will be aired on ABC.
Here are the highlights from DeBoer’s weekly appearance on the show.
-- DeBoer arrives at Baumhower’s and begins the show, alongside host Chris Stewart.
-- Says he’s “extremely disappointed and frustrated” by loss to Vanderbilt, but “the sun came up.” Says Alabama looks to film to find answers about what it needs to fix. Says he’s been proud of how players have responded throughout week.
-- Stewart mentions the Malachi Moore outburst at the end of the Vanderbilt game. DeBoer says Alabama had leadership step up in locker room after the loss.
-- Stewart asks what made it difficult for Alabama to get off the field on third downs. DeBoer says it comes down to execution, not just from players. Said there’s always things to look back at that could have been better, stresses that it’s important not to overreact.
-- Stewart asks about difficulty of balancing fixing Vanderbilt issues and preparing for South Carolina. DeBoer says Sunday was a big day for correction. Says Alabama tries to bank corrective reps, to help when issues resurface down the road. Says Alabama fell behind and had to be perfect, and wasn’t able to do that.
-- Stewart asks about Vanderbilt crowd, where Alabama fans made up most of the audience. DeBoer says he appreciates the fans that showed up to FirstBank Stadium.
-- Peewee from Grand Bay. Says he’s been hearing “naysayers” talking about players and DeBoer’s gameday fashion choices. Says Alabama fan base doesn’t need those people around. Says real Alabama fans have DeBoer’s back, which draws cheer from crowd at Baumhower’s. DeBoer says Alabama and its players are working hard to make fan base proud.
-- Peewee asks DeBoer about NCAA eliminating NLIs and how it will impact recruiting. DeBoer says it won’t affect anything today or tomorrow. Says there will still be binding things for prospects to sign, but he’ll learn more as information becomes more complete.
-- Caller says real Alabama fans are all behind DeBoer. Says he and his wife went to Georgia game, and it was “electric.” Asked what it will take to keep that intensity in every game. DeBoer says he loves all the fans, and understands expectations are high in Alabama. Says Alabama got off to hot start against Bulldogs. Says Tide was hesitant on certain things early against Vanderbilt, notes pick six Commodores scored on. Says he believes Alabama players gave everything they had.
-- Question is whether explosive offense hurts defense by not giving enough rest between drives. DeBoer says he understands question, but might be different from week-to-week. Says against Vanderbilt, Commodores wanted to shorten game and was successful, so Crimson Tide needed to move with tempo and pace to increase number of possessions. Said score got UA away from original plan.
-- Says Alabama should have had more success running the football against Vanderbilt, but that part of the plan wasn’t able to be utilized after falling behind early.
-- Live questioner wishes DeBoer a happy early birthday and asks about South Carolina. DeBoer says Gamecocks have great athletes and are physical on both sides of the ball. Says USC quarterback can run and running back is difficult to bring down. Notes South Carolina defense has been opportunistic.
-- Caller encourages DeBoer to stay the course. Jokes that he wore a T-shirt to call. DeBoer says word has got back to him of response to gameday outfit.
-- DeBoer says South Carolina will bring in different quarterbacks that present different threats. Notes USC’s physicality.
-- Caller says Alabama defense didn’t play to “Bama Standard” last week, asks how that will be different vs. South Carolina. DeBoer says Tide is learning from what it did wrong last week. Says he knows that other teams will look at UA’s film, so it’s important to clean up what went wrong.
-- Germie Bernard joins show as player guest. Bernard thanks fans for welcoming him to Tuscaloosa after he followed DeBoer from Washington. Stewart asks what it was like to come out of tunnel for the first time at Bryant-Denny. Bernard says he’ll never forget the environment.
-- Bernard says he’s thankful for DeBoer. Says coach always has players backs. Stewart notes how important that is after a loss. Bernard agrees, and says DeBoer always has an optimistic mindset.
-- Stewart asks Bernard about building relationship with Jalen Milroe. Bernard says it was easy for the two to connect, especially off the field. Says they live two doors from each other.
-- Bernard praises Ryan Williams. Says he loves playing next to freshman. Says he really enjoys being around Williams off the field.
-- Caller says Vanderbilt was not Alabama’s worst loss ever. Points out 1975 opener against Missouri. Says Alabama “didn’t know how to throw the dad-blame football” in that game.
-- Question is whether Alabama still has a leadership council. DeBoer says it’s more important than ever this week. Says the group is huge for the Crimson Tide, and includes Bernard.
-- DeBoer thanks crowd for support. Promises team is doing everything it can to be successful against South Carolina.
