Everything Kalen DeBoer Said Ahead of Alabama's Matchup with Georgia

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer spoke to the media Monday morning as his team is coming off a bye week and is preparing for the SEC opener at Georgia this weekend.

Here's everything DeBoer had to say:

Full Transcript:

Opening statement

"Good morning. You already heard from the coordinators, I think overall just excited about the week upcoming, the preparation getting ready for a very good Georgia team, that's undefeated. Going to Athens, Georgia, it's gonna be a great atmosphere, great environment. Something our guys are looking forward to. You can tell, just with the way we've had practices here at the end of last week, yesterday, just high energy. We're looking forward to the challenge."

Do you expect running back Jam Miller to play?

"I do. I do expect him to go. He practiced yesterday, been building up last week, his volume. So I expect him to play."

On Jam Miller's abilities in pass protection...

"No question that Jam is a complete back all-around. Not just what you see with him carrying the football, but with his pass protection responsibility and his ability to get the job done physically as well. He's very important that way. He's someone that we trust at the highest level. In fall camp, in spring ball, goes back to last year, he's just been super consistent as a pass protector. Not just as a guy who can carry the football."

On playing with discipline on the road...

"Yeah, I mean not every game, but a lot of these games you have in the SEC come down to one possession. Going into the fourth quarter, when you have games that are that close, it's a play here or a play there that keeps a drive alive. A lot of times it comes down to penalties, there's an extra execution piece that's really important throughout the game, but you don't know what that penalty is. Is it the one that extends a drive in the first quarter, fourth quarter. You've got to be able to be focused and be disciplined for four quarters and more if needed."

On what Tim Keenan brings...

"I think in a couple ways, he was voted team captain for a reason. So, the energy he's brought the last even two or three weeks, you know, his juice. He's that way naturally, he loves this place. I think his perspective of being on the sideline has brought another level of energy to him that our defense and our whole team has responded to. On top of it, he's a big anchor, big body in there that can kind of hold down the line of scrimmage, get push in the pocket on pass plays. It's good to have him back. He's had a couple good days here, we'll continue to build here through the week of practice is what we're expecting."

On Alabama's approach to road games...

"Whatever we've asked of this group, they've just been so coachable. Just think talking through and going through what we've experienced together, you've got to prove it on the football field, but the way they want to respond in practice I think has carried over into what we've done at least in these home games the last two weeks. We've got to be resilient. We know there are going to be storms we have to weather in the SEC, on the road, and you've got to do it. No one else is going to go do it for you. I know there's a high want-to factor this group has. They've shown it in the work. They've shown it in their preparation. That's the key. Really just prepare, invest, and do everything you can to be confident and do something special together. Just ask these guys to empty the tank every single day. And they've done that. That's what we've got to do on Saturday. We're going to have to be resilient. Understand that adversity against good football teams is going to happen. Know what our response is going to be, choose our response and understand what that looks like even now, not just when it happens."

Has the Alabama coaching staff changed its approach to road games?

"I think you do the same things. You might tweak something here and there. I still think it comes down to your preparation and execution. Every game is a little different, depending on how far you travel, where you're staying, that's a lot of the times how the coordination of the schedule might be impacted. For us, the flight and the drive and then the drive the next morning, that's going to be different than it is in some other cities that we go to. It just comes down to keeping the main thing the main thing. Certainly in our case, always trying to find the little thing here and there that might help us with the juice, the energy, whatever it might be. We also don't want to make something out of nothing. We want to make sure we're focused on the right things, and that's playing as hard as we can. Giving everything we have to our preparation, going out there and playing sound, physical football."

What did Alabama do to maintain intensity through bye week?

"What I've asked them to do is just really look at their process. This is the way it should always be … you're always trying to just make things better. I don't care if it's how they take notes. What's that system? Is it color-coded ink that you use? How can you just make it better for you to be more successful. I see that with these guys. I see that with them trying to find little ways to get better, maybe with treatments, their schedules, they pour so much into it but you can always make things better and be smarter about it. When it comes to practice on the field, I can just see that we're focused on moving with purpose. Everything we do, just move with an urgency level that just has great body language and becomes contagious across the team. I see that. And the actions support the desires and goals they have as a team. It, again, goes back to everything I've ever asked them to do, they've always responded. That's what I've asked them to focus on."

What did you learn from last year's game with Georgia?

"It's never over until it's over. I challenged the guys to watch some football this weekend, and we pulled up a game or two and tried to learn from what other teams did, and what happened to them good and bad. You fight until the very last play, and that's whether you're ahead or whether you're on the wrong end of it at that time. Last year (against Georgia) was exactly one that we lived out. It was great. Then it was hard. Then we found a way. You play because crazy things happen. You play because you love to compete, and that's what our guys are going to do here on Saturday."

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