The foundations of the Kalen DeBoer era at Alabama are already being laid. The new head coach of Alabama Crimson Tide has already laid out the playbook for his players. There were several questions surrounding DeBoer as a leader, especially because Alabama is used to the playbook of Nick Saban.

Nick Saban was hardly ‘just a head coach‘. He was a walking inspiration for the whole of CFB, thanks to his meticulous principles. Quite early into his role, Kalen DeBoer understood the value of having set principles to run Alabama as smoothly as Saban did. Hence, during his appearance on Next Up With Adam Breneman, which aired on June 28, the Crimson Tide head coach unveiled some of the ‘non-negotiables‘ from his core values.

Starting strong, Kalen DeBoer elaborated on the importance of academic excellence in their program. “We want you to be Men of Integrity. Classroom excellence is really key,” DeBoer iterated. “We want to be family-centered. We want to have a Brotherhood,” followed next. DeBoer explained how this value accounts for everyone to feel more connected to their program as well as enables them to be more accountable. Even if it means calling teammates out when they are not up to the mark.

Per the head coach, the culture has already seeped into the mindsets of players and is starting to show its impact on the training ground and in the gym sessions. “That says a lot about the relationship too because they’re not getting defensive,” DeBoer explained. All the feedback taking and implementing combined creates a “mental toughness and physical fitness.” Kalen DeBoer emphasized that they have other values as well, but “just doing things the right way, we say winners win.” While DeBoer’s playbook looks good, the core values look quite different from that of Nick Saban’s.

How do DeBoer’s values differ from that of Nick Saban’s?

Nick Saban’s playbook was what you call textbook old school. Discipline and attention to detail in the process were something he valued highly. While DeBoer has decided to not include both things in his core values, fostering a good team culture and togetherness is something Kalen DeBoer is practicing as well.

While Saban knows that his values have been working just fine for the past 17 years, he too wants Alabama to try something fresh. This is also the reason why Saban is not poking his nose in DeBoer’s business in Alabama.

Confessing this, DeBoer opened up on this podcast appearance with Jim Rome. “He’s just been so respectful, trying to allow me to still make it mine,” DeBoer confessed about Nick Saban. Now that Kalen DeBoer has made Alabama ‘his’, what will it turn out like?