This is an opinion column.
It’s been just over six months since Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer stepped off the plane in Tuscaloosa and a month plus before he’ll coach his first game in crimson.
Six months of questions.
Six months of why would you want to replace Nick Saban?
Six months of will this guy from South Dakota really have the juice?
And still more than a month before he can really answer any of this with results that go into the record books. It honestly has to be maddening with all the same questions fired his way last week at SEC Media Days in what’s got to be the peak of this cyclone.
Standing at the front of the Dallas hotel ballroom, DeBoer addressed the assembled media as his successor physically looked over his shoulder from the SEC Network stage. The optics were downright cinematic.
Never more fitting than when this question came his way.
“I’m wondering,” it began, “how many coaches, friends, family told you it wasn’t smart to follow a legend, and how much did that enter into your thinking before you accepted?”
DeBoer answered with his now-familiar humility, paying tribute to his on-looking predecessor, before making a good point.
“The alternative,” DeBoer said, “is to be at places where there aren’t expectations.”
It was a moment of blunt truth to cut through the aww-shucks, flew-commercial-to-Dallas, persona.
So, before coaching a game that counts in the newly-minted Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium, how can we judge DeBoer’s early progress?
Recruiting, of course.
That was how Saban first thumped his chest upon arriving 17 years and six months ago, and DeBoer’s handling that legacy just fine. Though in a much different environment—one that included re-recruiting the entire existing roster to stay put—it was a fire drill to keep the highly-rated class in place.
After an initial painful purge of a few huge names, DeBoer’s responded about as well as one could expect. His 2025 class is No. 2 in the major rankings after getting three five-star commits in the last month. They have 10% of the top-100 prospects in the 247Sports ranking committed to fall just shy of Ohio State for the top spot.
One could argue that momentum began six months ago today.
Alabama was still reeling from the departures of Caleb Downs, Julian Sayin, Isaiah Bond and others when it got a big one back.
Five-star recruit Ryan Williams was the biggest score in the 2024 class until he decommited the day Saban retired. By Jan. 24 (exactly six months ago), he was back in the stable, signing a few weeks later.
As the Crimson Tide prepares to open preseason camp on July 31, no name is more alluring than this 6-foot, 165-pound receiver. A high school junior who reclassified to graduate early, Williams not only accepts the pressure, he adds to it.
Take, for example, the line of questioning after becoming the state’s first two-time Mr. Football winner. At the time, he was getting all kinds of comparisons to Julio Jones, the All-American receiver whose commitment was a huge catalyst for Saban’s first full recruiting class in 2008.
“I really accept the challenge,” he said confidently, “because, I mean, (Jones is) a great football player but I know I put the work in so with more work and what I’m going to do in the future, I could potentially be better than him.”
That was honestly shocking to hear from a young man who celebrated his first birthday (Feb. 9, 2007) three days after Jones committed and signed with Alabama.
To date, the reviews for Williams in offseason training only add to the hype.
“He’s very mature for his age,” Alabama fifth-year defensive back Malachi Moore said. “A lot of things he’s done in practice is shocking to see somebody his age do it at a high level.
Shocking, huh?
That word carries some weight, and the player who spoke does, too. Moore is one of the few bridges to Alabama’s most recent national title team, which included Heisman Trophy winner DeVonta Smith, first-round pick Jaylen Waddle, and John Metchie.
“I think one of the main things about him is that he has the ability and he has the brain to go with the ability,” Moore continued on Williams. “He’s very smart and knowledgeable as a young freshman competing. And even being a year behind, age-wise. He’s definitely something I don’t think I’ve ever seen when it comes to Alabama and somebody skipping a grade and going to college and performing at the level he’s done.”
Those are powerful words. They add to the legend and the pressure for a player not yet 17-and-a-half years old.
Like DeBoer isn’t backing away from the burden of expectations that came with replacing Saban, Williams is embracing and doubling down on the next-Julio-Jones chatter.
They chose each other.
Both bet on the other in the most challenging days of an earth-rattling transitionary phase.
Just six months ago with a new countdown under way.
The 2025 College Football Playoff national title game?
That’s just six months from last Saturday.
Michael Casagrande is a reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter@ByCasagrandeor onFacebook.
