Kalen DeBoer Says He Can Address Team Differently Than Last Season

The tone in the Alabama locker room following the loss to Florida State is "completely different" from a year ago.

8/30/25 MFB Alabama vs Florida State University Uniforms hang in the lockers at FSU’s Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, FL | UA Athletics

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— Standing in a locker room after a loss isn't a place Kalen DeBoer wants to be in. It is where he found himself for the fifth time as the Alabama head coach on Saturday after the Crimson Tide's 31-17 season-opening loss at Florida State.

DeBoer is now in his second season as the Crimson Tide's head man. His team came into the year ranked No. 8 and one of the favorites to compete for an SEC title and make the College Football Playoff. A loss to the Seminoles doesn't negate either of those possibilities, but the way Alabama performed in the defeat does raise a lot of questions about how they will respond.

In Year 1, it was still DeBoer's team, but that team was mostly filled up of Nick Saban players. During Monday's press conference, DeBoer said he feels like he can address the team differently than a season ago.

"I really feel like the tone in the locker room after the game, at least from my standpoint and how I can address the team, is completely different than a year ago," DeBoer said. "We don't need to speak in those terms, but it feels different. There's more of a flat-out upset. I can use a lot of different words to explain it. Really upset about how it went. These aren't learning moments anymore. This is us and our program and again, we understand the situation we put ourselves in, and that we're in, but it is a long season. Let's take care of business this week and that's gonna set up the next week. Then we'll worry about that. That's been our philosophy all along, but we really got to live it now."

Alabama's players report to the football facility every Sunday after games to look at film from the previous game and start getting ready for the next opponent. The players then have Monday off before starting practice again on Tuesday. DeBoer said the players already showed on Sunday how badly they want to make things better.

Defensive coordinator Kane Wommack said he has seen a strong "level of ownership" from the players in the two days following the loss.

"I think we're ready to go put a product together on the field on Saturday that our fans, this university can be very proud of," Wommack said. "Look forward to doing that this week."