The crown that fits one’s head in Alabama will always bore immense weight. That’s exactly the precedent that Nick Saban set with his retirement and now, Kalen DeBoer needs to bear the brunt of the legacy that won’t come easy to live up to. Yet, DeBoer turned a deaf ear to all the warnings and pressure as he bravely stepped up to the challenge and paid no heed to breaking the “10th Amendment.”

Jalen Milroe, the QB for the Alabama Crimson Tide, had quite a distinction to make between Nick Saban and Kalen DeBoer. In his words, the training sessions are not as intense anymore as they would be with Saban since DeBoer is a lot more patient with the team. DeBoer tends to compliment players and motivate them to celebrate their minor achievements, which is something that wouldn’t occur in the era of Saban. Now whether that’s a good thing or not, will depend on how the team performs this season but as of now, DeBoer is not too worried about trying to fill out the mighty shoes that Saban left behind in his wake.

Kalen DeBoer talks about following in Saban’s footsteps

On the 24th July episode of the ‘Softy & Dick Interviews’ podcast, Kalen DeBoer joined Dave Mahler and Hugh Millen to talk about his departure from UW and how it’s tough to follow after Nick Saban. Regarding the latter, Softy asked why DeBoer chose to break the 10th Amendment, which in the coaching world translates to “don’t follow the legend.”

DeBoer began his response with a chuckle since this isn’t something he’s been asked for the first time. He replied by saying, “I totally get it. I think when it comes to Alabama, you certainly get what Coach Saban means to the program and you know, he built the structure by winning, putting in more resources in place over the years and so, I have nothing but gratitude and Coach Saban’s been awesome for the first 6 months here and how he’s been there to help when I needed him to and answer a question here and there. In today’s day and age, it’s hard to stay for long in college football but if there’s any place we can do it, it’s here in Alabama.”

DeBoer isn’t naive to the expectations that stand before him, but despite that, he’s not trying to imitate Saban at all. Although the two coaches are similar in the way they’re recruiting top talents for the team, DeBoer is a lot nicer and kinder to his players as compared to Saban, who would outrightly yell at the squad from the moment he’d step foot into practice. Moreover, after solidifying his success in Washington, DeBoer is set to repeat it in Alabama, which is undoubtedly one of the grandest stages in Alabama. As for his legacy with the Washington Huskies, he doesn’t want any statues to be erected in his name, but rather just wants to be remembered as someone who gave it his all.

How does Kalen want to be remembered in Seattle?

The Huskies fans were certainly sad to see DeBoer go, especially after he had such a tremendous 2 seasons with them. But of course, even they understood the motives behind his exit, which were to take up the role of Nick Saban, the most legendary coach that college football has ever seen. Yet, DeBoer has nothing but praise and love for the team that housed him in Seattle for 2 years and assured them that he will be coming back to the campus very soon since his daughter is on the university’s softball team.

While reminiscing his time as the HC for the Huskies, Saban replied to the question about how he wants to be remembered in Washington and said, “I’m not in this profession to have statues or anything like that. I think those are all the results of success and I get it but I hope to just go about wherever I stand and Washington being the same case, is that they trust and believe you gave them everything you had and that was with our players and the community in that, continue to have those relationships. I’m certainly going to be coming to the campus pretty soon! I got a daughter that’s on the softball team there and she’s so fired up.”

Thus, the Huskies fans will get to see their former coach very soon, and though he might be donning the Crimson-coloured attire, a piece of his heart will always stay in Seattle, along with a daughter who could be a softball pro soon!