The Non-Alabama Player Who 'Brought Energy' to Players-Only Meeting

Crimson Tide left tackle Kadyn Proctor explained how head coach Kalen DeBoer's intrusion earlier in the week was the catalyst for a dominant win over ULM.

The University of Alabama football team takes the field against ULM at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, AL on Saturday, Sep 6, 2025. | Photo by Crimson Tide Photos / UA Athletics

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — A players-only meeting is a common practice to discuss a variety of team-oriented topics without the coaching staff in the room.

Alabama football held a players-only meeting following the loss to Florida State. It was the Crimson Tide's first time starting a season 0-1 since 2001, and it was clear that leadership was needed immediately.

Alabama wide receiver Germie Bernard said on Tuesday that "there's been a lot of energy" this week. This was evident throughout the Crimson Tide's 73-0 win over Louisiana Monroe on Saturday night, but the energy didn't exactly stem from a player in the players-only meeting, as there was an intruder.

"Coach DeBoer was actually in there, and he had his two cents to say, even though it was a players-only meeting," Alabama left tackle Kadyn Proctor said after the game. "But he had to get some stuff off our chest. He just brought that energy.

"You have to sustain that energy and we took it in because you can't be flat. You can't be flat or you're going to lose. It definitely helped when coach DeBoer came in there and brought that energy, no doubt. We carried that over as a team."

Alabama had a players-only meeting after the loss to FSU. I asked LT Kadyn Proctor if all the boxes from the meeting were checked off against ULM.

He said yes, but it was partly due to the energy brought by a non-player that intruded on the players-only meeting: Kalen DeBoer. https://t.co/ZiUj4Kb0IF pic.twitter.com/IZYRIDYbTI

— Hunter De Siver (@HunterDeSiver) September 7, 2025

Proctor stated that all of the boxes from the meeting were checked off during Saturday's slaughtering of the Warhawks. SEC Network analyst Jordan Rodgers spoke to the Alabama coaches and said on Friday that the Tide will play "new faces" against ULM. Proctor was hyped up when this became a reality, as Alabama was constantly rotating players on the offensive line.

"We played fast and I'm just really proud of everybody that got in there," Proctor said. "I mean, that's the big thing. I like seeing the young guys out there. Like, forget what I did, I want to see Jackson Lloyd out there, Michael Carroll out there, Joe Ionata, guys that don't get too many opportunities, but they took advantage of it for sure."

Bernard was one of the players who rotated a bit as he sat for most of the second half. After being one of Alabama's very few bright stars against Florida State, the wide receiver followed his career-high performance in Tallahassee with three receptions for 67 yards and two touchdowns by halftime on Saturday. But "nothing felt different" for him and the team when comparing this game to the last.

"We prepare the same each week, we prepare to the best of our abilities," Bernard said. "We just had to turn it up a bit more. We knew that last week wasn't good enough, it wasn't to the standard and we knew that we had to be better. So, that's what we did."

So, how does Alabama replicate this performance and stay the course?

"Just staying on the gas pedal, man," Bernard said. "We had a players meeting last week after the game. We talked about what we needed to do and how we're going to sustain all that energy. We're going to meet tomorrow again and re-harp on the same things that we re-harped on last week. We have to continue to go hard each day at practice."