Kalen DeBoer faces as much pressure as any coach heading into only his second season leading the Alabama Crimson Tide.
The Tide were the first team out of the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff with three losses, more than all but two seasons of the Nick Saban era. This put DeBoer in the spotlight. He hopes to lead the team to its first national championship since 2020.
Kalen DeBoer Surprised by Unexpected Leadership in KB Group With Deontae Lawson, Justin Jefferson
DeBoer joined “Josh Pate’s College Football Show” last week to discuss season two of his Alabama tenure, including staff, players, and what lesson he learned in Year 1.
DeBoer and Pate also discussed the state of the Tide’s roster, which he thinks is in good shape, especially on defense.
“The defensive backs is, a year ago, where we were at and we had names and we brought guys in, but they were completely new to this program and in many cases completely new to college football coming out of high school so, you know, we took some lumps,” DeBoer said.
“But those lumps, I think relative to what people probably thought we were going to take at that position, is a tribute to [co-defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach] Mo Linguist and what he does with the defensive backs there and Kane Wommack as the [defensive] coordinator.”
DeBoer voiced his excitement for the upcoming roster, specifying two returning players as key pieces to the puzzle.
“So I’m excited about those two groups, as you mentioned, and just how different they are than they were a year ago,” DeBoer said.
“I think, you know, at linebacker is just, I don’t want to say a pleasant surprise, but we weren’t expecting to have Deontae Lawson, and unfortunately, he had an injury, but he is back. And that veteran leadership in that spot along with Justin Jefferson coming back, you know, through the junior college rule and things like that, allowed him to have a year that we weren’t expecting.”
KEEP READING: Kalen DeBoer Talks Up Alabama’s Linebacker Depth
“That group all of a sudden went from what we envisioned this year being probably a little more youthful, some new faces, you know, to a rock solid group that we’re counting on to lead the charge. And at linebacker, how can you not love that?”
Lawson, a former four-star prospect, earned third-team All-SEC honors last year, playing in 11 games before suffering a season-ending leg injury against Oklahoma. He recorded 76 tackles, 6.5 tackles-for-loss, two sacks, and an interception in 2024. Jefferson joined the Tide in 2023 as one of the top junior college players in the 2023 recruiting cycle. He recorded 61 tackles and two sacks last year.
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