Alabama’s Culture Under Kalen Deboer Reformed as Nick Saban’s Training Methods Get a Much Needed Upgrade

“With great power, comes great responsibility.” These were the words that we tend to remember Spider-Man’s legacy by, but incidentally, it can also be applied to Nick Saban‘s legacy as well. For a coach who dominated college football for a decade and collected accolades throughout, it’s obvious that he would have to face the constant pressure of being constant with that sort of success, which in turn would be rolled upon the Alabama players to perform in terms of what the weight of Saban’s legacy is. While Alabama does miss Saban and what he did for the team, the players seem to be smiling a lot more with DeBoer than they ever did with the 72-year-old coach.

Kalen DeBoer is the new head coach for the Alabama Crimson Tide after a brilliant 2 seasons with the Washington Huskies. Saban decided to take off his straw hat for good and retire from coaching this year and while we didn’t get to see it, the players might’ve welcomed the news with a little smirk in the background. As per Clint Lamb, the Alabama football analyst, the happy meter of the team is higher than it was during the era of Nick Saban.

The Alabama players are “more relaxed”, as per an insider report

The 17-year dynasty of Nick Saban came to an end in 2024 and while Kalen DeBoer has donned the cape and expectations demanded him to be the next great “Saban”, he’s trying his best to steer away from the imitations and the players might be grateful for it. Ever since the new leadership took over, players like Jalen Milroe had great praise for DeBoer and how his style of coaching was wildly different from Nick Saban’s.

During the August 2nd episode of ‘The Next Round’ show, Clint Lamb was heard talking about the new and improved way of coaching that DeBoer is leading at the moment. He talked about how the “vibe” of the practice has drastically changed and said, “I’m not saying there wasn’t energy at Nick Saban practices, but I feel like guys are having a little bit more fun. But it’s also laser focused and I think that’s a really good combination. Guys can be a little bit more relaxed if you think about the last couple of years. Nick Saban talked a lot about the anxiety of certain guys and just how that kind of affected the team with this group.”

According to the Alabama QB, DeBoer would end up complimenting him or his teammates when they made great plays and would even motivate them to celebrate their accomplishments, which isn’t something that Nick Saban used to employ with his coaching style. These sorts of statements lead us to believe that Saban did bring the most prestige to Alabama but he might’ve rolled over a lot of players’ emotions in doing so. Lamb ended up addressing a few of Saban’s grave ways of coaching that players in the past have brought up against him, and yet, they tend to go unnoticed due to the splendid additions he made to the trophy case of Alabama.

Nick Saban and the dark stains that exist within his legacy

There won’t be anyone in the world of coaching like Nick Saban and maybe that statement holds more weight than people estimate. Indeed, Saban’s coaching brought Alabama its most successful era, securing six national championships for the team. However, this shouldn’t overshadow the rumors of players being intimidated by him privately.

During Saban’s time with the Miami Dolphins in 2005, there was a clip released by ESPN that saw the coach ripping into rookie Manuel Wright and making him cry in the training camp. Additionally, when Mike Johnson, the former lineman for the team, learned about Saban’s arrival at Alabama, he said, “I just remember thinking, ‘Well, that’s not going to be good.’ That guy didn’t look like he was having much fun.” Well, Johnson’s words were quite the understatement since the year 2007 was really harsh for the team.

“It was hell” described Johnson and wasn’t the only player to speak up about the harshness that Saban brought to Alabama. But now that his time has ended and a new dynasty begins, maybe the team will get to revel in joy together and not be a scapegoat of their HC’s fury which may or may not bring them to the very verge of tears.