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Kalen DeBoer was fired up.
As music blared throughout Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 18, and No. 6 Alabama football entered the ring against rival Tennessee, the Crimson Tide coach was determined. He looked down and clapped three times. He yelled something in the direction of his players.
And right before he jogged onto the field, DeBoer slammed his hand against the padded part of the goalpost.
“Everybody thinks coach DeBoer is a calm guy,” Alabama running back Daniel Hill said. “But when it’s that time, he’s always ready. And the team, we feed off him.”
Alabama was ready. The Crimson Tide dominated Tennessee 37-20, giving DeBoer his first win against the Volunteers and igniting a smoky haze above the stadium well before players had to chance to partake in the cigar celebration.
But DeBoer was fired up before his “guys” were fired up.
There was a lot of “chatter,” he said, before the game. It was an understanding. Alabama was prepared for Tennessee. And the Crimson Tide was in the right space mentally where that preparation turned into confidence.
“When you’re confident, you got a little more energy,” DeBoer said.
Zabien Brown was not surprised to see DeBoer so emotive.
“That’s what we see every day,” Brown said. “He’s on 10 every day. He holds us to an extremely high standard. I’m blessed to play for coach DeBoer.”
Alabama will face South Carolina at 2:30 p.m. CT Saturday, Oct. 25 at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, South Carolina.
Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at cgay@gannett.com or follow him @_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter.
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