Nate Oats' Advice for a Non-Southern Coach at Alabama
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne went outside the box when he hired Nate Oats to become the Crimson Tide's men's basketball coach nearly five years ago.
Now, with an even bigger task in front of him, Byrne has gone a similar route, hiring Washington head coach Kalen DeBoer to replace the retired Nick Saban as the leader of the Alabama football program.
Oats' previous stop was Buffalo, and is originally from Wisconsin, having no southern ties before he arrived in Tuscaloosa. DeBoer is the same way, coming from Washington, and originally being from South Dakota.
For many Alabama fans, that's a cause for concern. How will a new head coach with no ties to the area be able to recruit and find success?
During his Friday press conference, before the DeBoer news went official, Oats offered a piece of advice for a potential non-southern head coach coming to Tuscaloosa.
"I think if they're not from the area, you just got to be genuine," Oats said. "I think people whether up north, south understand, they can see through fake, and they can tell if you're genuine. If you're genuine, I think people down here in the south welcome you in with open arms. Shoot, it sure helps if you win, too."
One of the biggest questions going forward will be who DeBoer opts to retain from Alabama to be on his staff moving forward. For Oats, that was of the utmost importance for getting adjusted.
"If it's somebody that wasn't from the South, I'd say the best thing I did was kept Antoine Pettway on the staff," Oats said. "He was at this place, I'm sure there's got to be some continuity with people that know what's going on both at Alabama and in the area."
Oats and DeBoer aren't the only non-southern coaches at Alabama, either. Softball head coach Patrick Murphy, who has a national championship under his belt, is from Iowa.
The Alabama athletics roster is filling with coaches from unfamiliar regions of the country. Now, we watch to see if DeBoer can bring success with the resources he has access to.
