A dawn of the new age is set to shine over Alabama as the era of Nick Saban has ended. The program’s reins are in the hands of Kalen DeBoer, the former HC for the Washington Huskies. As he looks to step on the grand stage that is still adorned by the glorious legacy of Saban, the pressure to sit on his throne is at an utmost high. But as per his former accomplice in the Indiana team, there is no man better than Kalen DeBoer to switch around a team’s performance.

Kalen DeBoer has had quite a diverse portfolio when it comes to his coaching comparison. Though it pales in comparison to the 50 years of experience that Saban brought to the table, DeBoer sure knows his way around the sidelines. He began his career with Sioux Falls as a WR coach in 1997 and worked his way up for 27 years to finally land a renowned job as the HC for the Alabama Crimson Tide, one of the most historically dominant teams in the NCAA. There have been doubts regarding how he will handle this role, but Kane Wommack, a coach in the Alabama staff, had bright praise for DeBoer and how he’s able to redefine a program’s success.

Kane Wommack vouches for Kalen DeBoer’s performance

From a tweet by Adam Breneman, a video clip from Kane Wommack’s recent interview saw him discussing both his and DeBoer’s time in Indiana. He emphasized how Indiana hasn’t been the most historically successful team but when DeBoer came to the program during Wommack’s last year, the team broke staggering records.

Wommack said, “I thought Kalen came in his year with us and did a tremendous job in that and then I thought we developed that under Tom Allen in that time at Indiana from a defensive perspective. My last year there, we had five first team all big-10 players, the most in program history. I think our numbers were as good as they’ve been in 35-40 years.”  Both Wommack and DeBoer were coaches for the Indiana Hoosiers during the 2019 season, which was led by the HC Tom Allen. It is worth noting that the Hoosiers averaged 433.2 yards per game under the coaching of DeBoer, helping them rank 3rd in the Big 10 for the 2019 season. Additionally, Wommack has joined DeBoer to lead Alabama together and as such, he had a great review for the HC who’s set to lead the team into a new generation, without the hand of Nick Saban playing a role in it.

DeBoer was with the team for only a year and yet, he took the team to an unbelievable high, achieving something that the program hadn’t witnessed in 40 years. While Wommack has been rightfully appreciative of DeBoer’s talents, the HC for Alabama has been head over heels for Kane’s recruiting prowess since their time together in Indiana.

Kalen DeBoer and his high praise for Wommack

Despite spending just a year together leading the Hoosiers, DeBoer and Wommack established a deep friendship that would reunite 5 years later in Alabama. It is worth noting that Tom Allen tasked Wommack to find an Offensive Coordinator and as per him, Kalen DeBoer fit the perfect description. Hence, Wommack recruited DeBoer for the Hoosiers, and in 2024, he repaid the favor by bringing him to Alabama.

According to DeBoer, that is the reason when he realized Wommack is such a fantastic recruiter. The HC said, “That’s where I understood how good of a recruiter [Wommack] is — he recruited the heck out of me. We really drew a strong relationship before I even accepted that opportunity to go there and then working with him and just how compatible he was and how team-first oriented he was. But yet, you know, he was all about making sure he had a good defense on the football field.”

He further added why Wommack would be such a great fit in Alabama and said, ” I knew that he’d be doing what he’s doing right now and bringing a staff together, getting the players to buy in. And he’s obviously a great defensive coordinator, a great mind.” Thus, the Co-Defensive Coordinator and the LB coach, Kane Wommack, have a bigger role to play for the team than he lets on since the head coach himself values his input so massively.