Everything Kalen DeBoer Said after Alabama's Dominant Win over East Carolina

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— The third season of Alabama football under head coach Kalen DeBoer began on Saturday with a resounding 48-10 win for No. 13 Alabama over East Carolina.

DeBoer spent time with the media after the win. Here's everything he had to say:

Full Transcript

Opening statement

"Always good to win. Lot of things we can clean up, but got some guys some invaluable experience out there, and a lot of things we'll be able to take into the film room and to the practice field this next week. Guys getting their first opportunities, I think they took advantage of them. You know, need that experience out there in Bryant-Denny today."

On the running game, performance from freshmen RBs EJ Crowell and Trae'shawn Brown

"I think there's going to be a lot of positives that we're going to find in it. I think there's a physical presence. We'll be able to, I'm sure, execute better, and some of it is there was a lot of stuff we had to prepare for because we didn't know exactly what we'd see. I think we got that dialed in as the first quarter went along, limiting what we had to tell the guys to be ready for.

"I thought they adapted well. Those guys, they had their moments. You could see EJ on the touchdown get around the edge, break a tackle or two. And I thought Trae'shawn, you know, unfortunately got called back, but the way that he hit that seam and was gone, you could kind of see what he's capable of. Maybe a run early that was a negative play, can't say that was really on him that he had much of a chance. Like the way he runs. Think he runs with low pads. Both those guys have good feet in the hole, good balance.

"Good to get out there and get some experience. They're gonna turn on the film, and I can think of an EJ run when TB was blocking for him that could've been a better block and probably would've been a much better play. So that's just the stuff we've got to get better at."

On telling Keelon Russell to slide at the end of runs, self-preservation...

"I think that's part of him understanding college football. He needs to know those moments when he can do that, know when the game's on the line, and you've gotta have a first down. Certainly something that we'll talk a lot about.

"Again, using his feet, I thought he did a great job. I think along the sideline, there was a time maybe he could've got a bounce, had the first down. Sometimes, it's just happening fast too. Things caught upo with him there. Gotta make sure he's playing for the long haul. We gotta use his feet. You can see, we're gonna be aggressive with him, use it to our advantage, help our offense be as good as we can be, maximize our potential."

On how Russell operated the offense...

"I think there were some operational things pre-snap that caused us to use some timeouts, some things like that. We're getting nit-picky on some things as well that would've just maybe affeted the operation. It was to be expected. And I think he got better with those things as the game went on. I can think of opportunities where he could run early and threw a couple balls across the line of scrimmage on one. Again, I think he kind of started getting in a flow, kind of figuring out how he could move the chains, how he could be a weapon. As eyes came more to him, he started finding guys down the field, Ryan over the middle there in the third quarter.

"I just think, again, every play, he's getting better. Kept him in the game quite a while today so he can get those reps, get those snaps."

On Yhonzae Pierre's pick six...

"He did a great job. Those balls come at you hot, and he dropped into the coverage, into the spot. I don't think the quarterback even really saw him, but you've still got to make the play. It was just fun to see him. He's worked hard to have a great year last year and wants to do even more. It was a good start to his season here."

On Ryan Coleman-Williams' performance in the season opener...

"I thought he went out there and made some contested catches, too. We're going to keep feeding him. He's a relentless worker, and he's going to keep getting the ball. I thought had some catches in contact, caught the ball in traffic, so just getting out there. He's a captain for us. We're not going to shy away from going to Ryan, I know that."

On the rotation between William Sanders and Mal Waldrep Jr. at LG, overall offensive line play...

"For the most part, there's gonna be things where we're gonna see a double team could've been better, but I think for the most part, it felt like there was communication happening and that they were on the same page. We'll find a play or two here and there that I'm sure we gotta clean up.

"Mal coming in, we just want to give him a chance to get out on the football field. Will got through good with the game, just from a physical standpoint. I like the direction we went. There's a couple opportunities we missed on some explosives where we had guys open, and we had a little pressure. It wasn't always the offensive line either. You can't just put that on them."

On Russell's poise...

"I think his poise when the bullets are flying is really good. The football part, he's thinking pretty quick, can go and make plays, is instinctive. Made a lot of big plays, and that's what we'll focus on first, but then we know that you just can't have a wasted play or burn a timeout. It's easy stuff. It's stuff that we can get cleaned up. Having some urgency on it for him, I think, will be the case, and I have no doubt that he'll take care of that."

What did he like the most about Russell's first start?

"I think especially as he went, just taking off and going to make plays. Balancing that with keeping his eyes down the field, I think he's just going to be a tough guy to defend. We knew that, and I thought he took advantage of his ability. We're able to really open up a lot of the playbook. First and second downs, if we're not in a perfect spot for third down, you can see what type of weapon he can be to continue to move the chains. A lot of eyes on him. Got the other great skill players around him, offensive line that, I think, will continue to get better and build on what we did today. Very hopeful that we can be a complete offense, and it starts with your quarterback. We've always been quarterback-driven by what we can do. I think the sky's the limit for him, for sure."

On the defensive line performance...

"I think there's a couple of plays. We have a high level of expectation for those guys, and a couple times where, I don't know if it was the linebackers not fitting where they needed to be, just in general, three, four yards on a couple run plays, and we were disappointed in that. I like seeing them being disappointed coming off the field and talking about it. I wanna keep that standard high. They're keeping that standard high. It isn't anything I'm really concerned about as far as me having to push it on them: they want it.

"I think there's times where they're going to see just building trust and working together, knowing that if you do your job, the other guy's going to do his, and you're going to find a way to make those plays. I thought there were a lot of positives with the way they played."

How much did the heat affect the players physically and mentally?

"I don’t think that was really an issue for us. We had one cramp, I think, from what I heard. Our scrimmage was considerably warmer than what it was today, probably at least three to five degrees, and we got some cloud cover too. It didn’t really feel like that was an issue at all. I think our guys trained in it all summer long. It was a hot fall camp, and I think they did a good job all week long preparing with the hydration and the things they needed to do to go out there. Any execution errors are part of something else, not fatigue or anything like that. I think we're in good shape.”

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