Kalen DeBoer has been complimentary of his team this offseason for the work they've put in to prepare for the 2025 season. DeBoer knows how vital this season is for him and the direction of the program. They're looking to put 2024 in the rearview and look back on it as just a blip on the radar for all the future success.
DeBoer seems to better understand the ins and outs of the job. And now, with a year under him, the returning players from last year better understand DeBoer and his system.
DeBoer spoke over the weekend at an event in South Dakota, stressing the importance of Alabama being better in close games. He reiterated some of that on Tuesday in an interview with The Millers' Edge, a podcast hosted by former Alabama LB Christian Miller and his Dad, Corey, a former NFL LB with the New York Giants.
He also praised his team for being coachable, and for being about the action, the results, and not just talking about it:
"They're eager to learn, they're hungry for success. It shows through action. That's really been what they've done. Very little talk. Just all action. That's really been their focus consistently all summer and all offseason."
Those words are music to the ears of Alabama fans far and wide. Too many times last season, Crimson Tide players said the right things about playing to the Alabama standard. But it rarely showed in preparation. The Alabama standard was not met in road losses to Vanderbilt or Oklahoma, or in the ReliaQuest Bowl against Michigan.
It has been a quiet offseason from players in Tuscaloosa
Aside from some comments made by sophomore WR Ryan Williams, Tide players haven't been very vocal in the media this offseason. That reinforces what DeBoer has said about the focus of this team and how they are preparing for the season.
There seems to be a much higher level of buy-in from this year's team with this coaching staff than we saw last season. Everyone seems to be focused on the same goal, and are tired of talking about getting back to the Alabama standard. They're ready to just do it.
"Continuity always makes things just a little bit easier to kind of work through," DeBoer said.
Everything is set up for DeBoer to find success in year two in Tuscaloosa. He has his players, his coaches, his scheme. He's no longer coaching Nick Saban's team; he's coaching his.