TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — It’s easy to spend time around Kalen DeBoer and come away with the impression that he’s normal. His haircut and choice of clothing are best described as sensible and efficient. He’s not boisterous or aggressive in public. Five months into his time as Alabama’s head football coach, and he hasn’t dressed down a single reporter or offered up a headline-grabbing opinion on the program he inherited from Nick Saban, on the SEC, on the state of college football, on really anything.
Thus far, the most unusual thing we’ve learned about him is that he doesn’t curse. And that’s only unusual relative to the world of mostly foul-mouthed football coaches.
So, yeah, normal. Reporters have described him that way, as have coaches and players. Just an average guy.
Except that’s not true at all.
One does not become the head coach at the University of Alabama, tasked with replacing the greatest coach of all time, by being normal. If he was, he wouldn’t have left Millbank, South Dakota, in the first place; he wouldn’t have gone from Sioux Falls to Fresno State to Washington and compiled a 104-12 record along the way; he wouldn’t have a trophy case full of Coach of the Year awards; and he wouldn’t command a $10 million a year salary.
Just because you can’t see what makes him different — what makes him special — doesn’t mean it’s not there. It means you have to look harder.
Take it from his general manager, Courtney Morgan, who has been with him since Fresno.
“He’s got some sh– to him, as we say in football,” Morgan said. “Don’t take the quietness and calmness for granted. Now he ain’t gonna MF everybody. He ain’t gonna cuss. But watch how he walks, he has some confidence to him.”
Case in point: the night before DeBoer officially accepted the Alabama job, Morgan asked him point-blank, “Are you worried about taking over for Nick Saban?” The expectations couldn’t be higher for whoever did. History is littered with coaches who have struggled succeeding an icon.
And yet …
“His facial expression, his demeanor, how certain he was,” Morgan recalled.
If you were there and could have seen DeBoer, Morgan said, you’d understand.
“The first thing he said was, ‘Psh, no.’ Basically like, Are you kidding me?“
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