How Kalen DeBoer’s Pregame Fire Helped Alabama Channel Energy in Win over Tennessee

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— Kalen DeBoer was anything but stoic walking out of the tunnel prior to Alabama’s game Saturday night against Tennessee.

The normally mild-mannered head coach turned around to clap in the face of his players while still in the tunnel, and then pounded his hands against the padding of the goal post yelling, “let’s go,” when he stepped out into the bright lights of Bryant-Denny Stadium.

“Our guys, they were fired up, so they got me fired up,” Deboer said. “I was excited to see them go out there and do their thing. Again, you get before the game, at halftime, just a lot of a chatter, positive, you know— not too high a level of emotions. It’s right where, I think we understand the week of preparation gets you mentally in the right space to where you’re confident going out on the football field. When you’re confident, you’ve got a little more energy. That’s really what I see with our guys. That fires me up.”

The pregame stroll set the tone for No. 6 Alabama’s 37-20 victory over No. 11 Tennessee, avenging last season’s loss and picking up the Crimson Tide’s fourth straight win over a ranked opponent. Alabama (6-1, 4-0 SEC) has now reeled off six straight wins since losing to Florida State in the season opener.

“Everybody thinks Coach DeBoer’s a calm guy, but when it’s that time, he’s always ready,” Alabama running back Daniel Hill said after the game. “As a team, we feed off him…Coach DeBoer, we love him. Like I said, we feed off him, he feeds off us. Whatever energy we bring to the table, that’s what he’s gonna do. Whatever energy he brings to the table, we gonna feed off each other. That’s out coach. We’re gonna do whatever it takes to get a win for him,”

According to Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson, DeBoer’s energy leading up to the Tennessee matchup wasn’t different than any other game this season.

“We knew this was going to be a hard game,” Simpson said. “Coach DeBoer’s done a really good job of his energy at practice and in team meetings and in everything. It starts with him, and it starts with the coaches, and it trickles down to the leadership, trickles down to the players. Love Coach DeBoer. I’d go to war for that guy.”

Starting fast on both sides of the ball has been a big theme preached by the Alabama coaching staff this season, and the Crimson Tide did just that on Saturday night. Tennessee got the ball first, and the Alabama defense forced a three-and-out. Alabama’s offense responded with an 11-play, 91-yard drive to go up 7-0. The Tide didn’t look back, never trailing in the game.

It wasn’t Alabama’s cleanest game of the season, and there are possessions on both sides of the ball that DeBoer would change if he could, but the Crimson Tide grabbed the momentum whenever it needed to, like Zabien Brown’s 99-yard pick six on the final play of the first half to increase the lead to 23-7 at the break

. Alabama responded to Tennessee’s early fourth-quarter touchdown with a touchdown of its own and kept the Volunteers out of the end zone as time expired. With a 17-point differential, both teams are just playing for pride at that point. The Crimson Tide won the battle and the war, holding Tennessee to 20 points.

Finding the balancing act between passion and discipline can be a challenge for a head coach. You want the players to play with an edge, but not in a way that would be reckless. Alabama has struggled with penalties throughout DeBoer’s tenure in Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide was penalized seven times for 59 yards on Saturday, but four of those seven penalties came in the final five minutes of the game when it was already out of reach for the Volunteers.

“We played, I think, that whole game and channeled the energy into the right things, being disciplined and all of that,” DeBoer said. “I know there’s some penalties at the end the last couple drives, but I’d rather make them have to earn it. If we get beat or something like that, I’d rather make them have to earn it than just give up some free yards. Just really pleased with the discipline and how we’re channeling that energy into the right areas.”

DeBoer’s energy from the jump also provided an extra spark for the sold-out Bryant-Denny crowd that was hungry for a revenge victory over a hated rival. It may have even inspired the stadium DJ to play “Dixieland Delight” twice in the fourth quarter.

Alabama has now won 16 straight home games and has created one of the best home atmospheres in college football. DeBoer still has not lost a game on Saban Field as the Crimson TIde’s head coach.

“We talked about that throughout the week and really reminded the guys last night and again, right before we went on the football field that Bryant-Denny is our home,” DeBoer said. “And what we’ve done here, and how great we’ve played. Again, it’s us and the fans working together to bring that energy to make it a home field advantage.”

The Crimson Tide made it through one of the most brutal stretches in conference history against four straight ranked opponents and remains in prime positioning in both the SEC and College Football Playoff race. A road game at a depleted South Carolina next week gives a brief reprieve from the ranked opponents, but Alabama still has games at home left against LSU and Oklahoma in the top 25.

After a lackluster start to the season, DeBoer is pushing the right buttons with his team and will need to continue to do so as the Crimson Tide continues surging up the rankings.

“I think the biggest thing for our guys is the way they’re so committed to the process each and every week,” DeBoer said. “You can see it, you can hear it. Pads are popping every single day in practice. They’ve got an edge to them still, and they haven’t lost it since the beginning after Week 1. That’s hard to do, really hard to do as you go through the weeks.

“We’ve got to keep the pedal down. There was critical moments that we continue to make plays in, red zone in particular, both sides of the ball executing in those times. That’s something we didn’t do a great job of the in the past. Really proud of the guys. They need to enjoy it tonight. Just stay humble and hungry and keep charging ahead.”