Everything Kalen DeBoer Said To Kickoff East Carolina Week

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama football is set to kickoff the 2026 season on Saturday against the East Carolina Pirates. Crimson Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer spent time with the media on Monday in the Naylor Stone Media Suite to discuss the season opener.

Here's a full transcript from Coach DeBoer's press conference.

DeBoer’s opening statement

“Game week. I know it's safe to say our guys are excited and ready. It's been a really good offseason, seeing these guys work the way they've worked. Seeing them come together as a team. It's time to go get someone else other than ourselves and see where we're at. So, just stressing the intentionality that these guys have and how they've gone about it, focusing on themselves and just really not caring about anything outside and externally. Just knowing that there's a process that we have to follow, knowing that there's work that has to be done every single day. Never falling off the expectation that we have, the standard we have. And they've done that. So, it's been a good fall camp.

“Looking forward to facing a good East Carolina team that the last couple of years, you can see them continue to win at bowl games and 9-4 last year. Coach Harrell brought in some new coordinators that have done some good things. A lot of transfers into the program, a couple of guys that returned. But a lot of upperclassmen. And so, talk to our team about that, and we'll continue to work on the game plan that we started practicing last week.”

DeBoer on leadership and taking a different approach to selecting captains

“We have not selected captains yet, which is why they haven't been announced. Going back to the leadership kind of from the beginning, there was less guys, I guess, that had experience in the program. And so, we did select a unity council. I did it later than I normally would have. They've done a great job — and later would have been the end of the spring. And so, they've done a great job kind of providing, being the liaison, the voice between me and the team, giving me the information, giving the team the information. And we just haven't gotten to the point where we're captains. We'll kind of decide that here as we go through.”

DeBoer on what he learned about being the Alabama head coach

“I mean, there’s a lot. There's a lot of different things that you go through there, and wherever you're at, it's just different. It doesn’t matter geographically, it might be conference-wise, you go face teams and what those stadiums look like and feel like. And so, what I can tell you is the familiarity now with everything allows you to be more efficient. I think it allows you to be much more confident. And really, it hasn't been a problem. I believe in how we go about things. I'm talking about confidence, going into a place and knowing what it's gonna feel like.

“So, when we go on the road to an LSU and going on the roadto a Tennesseeand know what those stadiums feel like and what we're gonna see there. And just the efficiency that you can operate within your own building, knowing your personnel, knowing your staff, knowing who you go to when you need something. It just allows fordaily just efficienciesthat I think are important to get the job done at a higher level.”

Who's the starting punter

"Yeah, we will work -- we'll have Alex Asparuhov be our punter."

On establishing the run game

"We want to be consistent. The physicality you see in a lot of different ways in a football team, but statistically that's what a lot of people look at it, and you can't deny that, right? For us, it's doing your job -- that's across the board. It's not just the offensive line. It's the quarterback doing a good job carrying out fakes because that's going to hold a defender. Receivers getting in there and doing their job, specifically, depending on the play -- what their responsibility is. Running backs anticipating based on what they're seeing in front of them pre-snap going and executing. It's everyone executing at a high level. The physicality has to be on point, but I want to see when you really break down the film, you want to see guys working together. They're exactly on the same page, they know not just what their job is but the footwork and how that is going to sync up with the guy next to them. You've just done the same thing over and over so many times that it just carries from practice onto the game field. That's when it results in the success that you'll see on the field on the statistics sheet."

On preparing Keelon Russell for road game atmospheres

"That's where it's nice that he's been here for a year. Keelon having been here last season, being a part of it, there's a little bit of a piece of that, but until you're really in it, I think there's always a part that we learn on the run. This is a great way to get him started here playing at home. There's kind of a way with him being familiar with everything -- our offense, he obviously knows that in Year 2. His players, his personnel around him. Pretty comfortable with a lot of guys we have returning, and the scheme, and I think his growth there shows up. The next step is the things you're referring to, and that's the environments, the defenses that he's gonna face and you take those as they come each and every week."

On Keelon Russell taking O-line out to dinner and his relationship with them

"I think those are the things you do as a quarterback to continue to show that you appreciate them. That's what you want your leaders to do. To me, the higher the leadership role, the more you are as a servant those around you and those you need. The quarterback, really, needs everyone -- not just the offensive line -- but he doesn't get a completion unless a receiver catches the ball. He doesn't get a chance to throw it unless he has time from the O-line. The quarterback needs all those guys around him, and so for him to do that doesn't surprise me one bit that he took those guys out. Just the type of person he is, and again, just he appreciates what they're doing for him."

On the importance of Keelon having a clean game

"Yeah, I mean that's what the goal is, right? And I think a lot of the stuff is, you know, after the snap happens by how he operates before the snap. And the guys, again, getting in the huddle or getting lined up, they can help him out. And, you know, we stress that all the time, and especially going to stress it, you know, having Keelon making his first start. So those guys having some urgency to him, to where they can give him a few more seconds with the play clock, and then, you know, him just, you know, not trying to do too much. I think that will help out with him playing a clean game. Just play within himself. He's got the ability. He's got the tools. You know, not trying to force things. The plays will happen because of the ability level that he has, and also the guys around him."

On Cederian Morgan

"Yeah, Cedarian certainly has got to be a part of the mix there, the receiving core, just with the skill set he has. And, you know, I think he's learned a lot. He's grown. He understands, I think, the difference between high school. All our guys that come in as freshmen, they are starting to understand that they’re, ‘Oh, this is not a couple weeks of fall camp, and you know you're the highlighted guy and so you know we'll work around you.’ I mean, he’s had to earn it. And it's not just offensively, but we need him in special teams roles at times. And you got to do this now. I mean, we've been going, what, four and a half weeks now. It's going to be four and a half weeks before the first game. And so the intensity and sustaining that level of intensity, I think, is one thing that he, as well as all of our other freshmen, learn. But you know he's got the tools, he's got the skill set to go out there. You know, he can play big. You know, and now it's just a matter of getting some snaps under his belt so he can play confident, just like we're talking about a guy like Keelon Russell."

On if he'll wear the black hoodie

"Man, I saw that forecast. You gotta do what you gotta do. So whatever it takes."

On his favorite thing about Keon Sabb

"You know, I love consistency. I think I brought that up earlier, that word about the run game. I just think that that is one of the words that applies to Keon, and that I love about him. He's been consistent from day one. You know what you're going to get from him. Just you know, he's intellectual, so out there on the football field, he's processing things. Everything that happens, not just between snap and whistle, but he's taking it all in. He's always getting better. He's a student of the game. I think he's a really good teammate to the guys around him. So, you know, they all appreciate him. He comes to practice every day looking to get better. All those things that you want in a guy on your football team, he brings that. So having him be back there with Bray, ZB, Dijon, just a lot of these guys. There’s more — Red, Dre, and they just spend a lot of time together, played a lot of snaps together. So not just do your job, but just really trust the guys around you. You can certainly trust Keon out there."

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