Since Nick Saban retired on Jan. 10, Alabama has seen multiple players enter the transfer portal including starters like Isaiah Bond, Caleb Downs and Kadyn Proctor.
New Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer made his first public comments Friday afternoon on the Paul Finebaum Show since his introductory press conference last Saturday, and DeBoer addressed the topic of Crimson Tide players jumping in the portal.
“I was just going through this two years ago, and this is a much better situation than even that one was with the number of players leaving,” DeBoer said. “We just stay the course. You roll up your sleeves, like I said earlier.
“There’s such a great group of leaders here in this program that want to uphold the standard of Alabama football, and they are sticking together. And we want those guys that want to be here. They’re working through all the noise that’s out there, and I just couldn’t be more proud of them sticking together and being intentional on communicating with themselves and trying to keep it tight, keep it together.
Many of these guys came here with the intention of leaving a legacy as well as building on one. They see it as an unfinished task. Whether they achieved it this year or in previous years, there is still work to be done. We’re eager to stick together as a staff and a team and just keep working with the guys that are here. We’re at a really good place, in my opinion. All we need to do is persevere.”
Athletes that have publicly reaffirmed their choice to continue at Alabama include Jalen Milroe, Tyler Booker, Kendrick Law, Jaeden Roberts, Malachi Moore, and Deontae Lawson.
DeBoer said he is close to filling out his entire staff, but is not fully there yet. He is telling the players and fans to get excited about the future of Alabama football.
“When you have change and transition, there’s going to be change with everything that’s around the program,” DeBoer said. “A lot of these programs are going through changes without transition of head coaches. Naturally you expect that this is going to happen to some extent, and we’ll get the right people in the program— whether it’s staff, whether it’s players. And this is a place that it’s got the best facilities, the best resources in the entire country. And we’re able to support the great players that come here in here with all of that.
“And our guys, and I would tell the fans this as well, to be excited about the staff we’re bringing in and what we’ll be capable of doing. I’m really not alarmed at all.”
