What Kalen DeBoer Said Ahead of Alabama's Game with Florida State

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— It is finally game week in Tuscaloosa. No. 8 Alabama will travel to play at Florida State on Saturday at 2:30. Crimson Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer will speak to the media Monday afternoon after offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb and defensive coordinator Kane Wommack.

DeBoer is scheduled to speak at noon CT.

Follow along for live updates throughout the press conference with a full transcript and video to be posted after.

Full Transcript

Opening statement

"Good morning. I know you guys got a chance to meet with the coordinators, but it’s game week and it’s a great feeling for everyone, you guys included. Excited about this last week of preparation, guys, I think, are in a good spot. We continue to have those things continue to be healed up here nicely last week and so getting time to play, see where we’re at. I think this team we’ve got here, going on the road, it’ll be a great test with Florida State. We know that the coaching staff, head coach, Coach Norvell, two new coordinators. It’s been a lot of film for us to pour through. We know that they’ve done a great job over their careers, individually and now collectively.

"We know that we’re going to face a good test there this weekend. So a lot of work putting into that last week. We’ll continue to do that. Proud of our staff. Proud of our team on all the focus that they’ve had just on keeping the main thing, the main thing and really taking it one day at a time. I think there comes a point now that you do have to start thinking, because we are so focused on the moment, that that time now has come and this week should feel different."

Will there be any other plays out with injury besides Jam Miller?

"I would say Jaeden Roberts is still in question just with what he’s going through in the protocol and the process there. He’s progressing, he’s progressing so we’ll kind of see here."

On what he's seen from the first-team offensive line, Geno VanDeMark...

"Geno was here a year ago and was battling and we threw him out there a couple series a game. He would do a great job and referred to him as Swiss Army Knife, guy can go out there, do a lot of things so he’s really valuable to us. Really, a lot of confidence, not just by me, but I know everyone out there offensively believes in him and he’s done a nice job. Doesn’t really feel like we skip a beat at all and he was in there competing for that spot in the first place, all along the way. So he loves this. There’s an energy that Geno, as you get to know him that you really appreciate. I think he adds that to our offensive line in his own way."

On Ryan Grubb being the only assistant in the booth...

"I mean, you know, the world we’re in now where you have some really high end quality offensive analysts, defensive analysts that you really trust and there’s a number of guys that’ll be up in the booth that really have worked together with these coaches a long time. Grubb in particular, you’ve got Mitch Dolan and Tyler Hughes, not just Coach Grubb working with them, but myself as well. Lot of trust that you just have. I think being on the field with our players is an important piece. As long as we’re getting the information that we need from up top that’s important. I think the other element that gets added to this that changed a year ago is the iPads. We can see everything on the field. I can see it all on the field. Maybe not in that moment, but we can understand why something happened, good, bad, ugly, whatever it might be and we can make those adjustments by seeing it on video as good as anyone, because it’s got both views, the wide and the end zone shot. We can make those adjustments on the field with our guys and I think it’s important for our coaches to be there with our guys which is why you see more of the coaches on the football field."

On Parker Brailsford's experience helping Ty Simpson in first start on road...

"Ty, I understand it's his first game, but for how long he's been in college, he's got a few games under his belt in different ways. It might feel that way for him, but I've got a lot of confidence in him and his emotional maturity and where he's at, to be able to take this in stride and it not be something overwhelming to him. With Parker (Brailsford), those two guys working hand in hand, being team captains, the way they infuse energy into our team, but also do it in their own way where they can stay calm themselves, you feel very confidence in what that's going to look like on game day with Parker running the show, and Ty hand in hand with him."

What are the points of emphasis for improving on the road compared to last season?

"Starting fast. You've got to start fast. You dig yourself a hole on the road, it gets hard, the crowd gets behind the home team. It comes down to execution, to preparation and the work happening on the football field (Tuesday), Wednesday and Thursday. So it's the same old thing. Starting fast and giving yourself - not that you don't have the belief - but (reaching) another level of momentum. As much as anything, taking it away from them, especially in an environment that we know will be a good one down there in Tallahassee."

On true freshman DB Dijon Lee...

"You have no problem putting him out there on the football field. There is a maturity, and I use that with Ty and Parker and our team, but there's a maturity that a freshman has. And I feel like Zabien Brown had that last year. There are other guys too, but to specifically focus on Dijon, he's had that. Even when he doesn't know what he doesn't know, in spring ball, there was something about his presence and the way he is. It's not about being as tall or anything, it's just about the confidence to go out there and play. And that's just a part of it - you've got to have the skill set - and he's done a great job being consistent from the first day he got here, winter workouts, to where we're at today. You keep throwing more and more on his plate, and he rises to the occasion. You feel very comfortable putting him out there on the football field."

On road openers...

"I think you just go back to any big road games you play. And this one, being the first game of the season, the first one is always big. It's always big because it's the next one. Then I think getting the season off to a good start, that's important, that makes it big. I think what it does is it gives you an urgency in fall camp, playing big games like this. It's kept the focus of fall camp at a high level. You've got to be at your best because you know your opponent is. We know they've got a lot they want to prove. They want to open up their season in a big way, so I think the guys have done a great job of just focusing on us, on what we can control, being in the moment. I know these are cliches, but I think these guys have really done a good job."

What are some changes he's noticed in leadership from last season?

"I think consistency in practice, consistency with how guys handle each other maybe when there’s a moment that doesn’t go as well. It doesn’t have to be on the practice field. It could be anything. And then just accountability to each other. If there’s something that’s just not to the level that they know, it doesn’t mean that someone did something wrong. I’m talking about at the level, you know. Making guys who are new to the program understand what the level should be. There’s just a great investment that you see and that leads to the consistency that you talk about. There’s maybe a practice where there’s more on their plate and schools starting and stuff where you can feel that it was different, that they needed to get out of there because they had to get to class, and that feels different because the guys are always putting in extra work on their own after practice. But in the end, I really feel like these guys, their investment has been (at) an extremely, extremely high level. And if there’s a rep or two in practice that didn’t go their way, those individuals that group together. Might miss a pass, and they are going to put in the extra work and get that pass in right after practice. These guys want it. They want it. And the actions have supported the work, it’s supported through the work they have put in to reach their goals."

Are there any guys who have worked their way up the depth chart into being rotation pieces on the offensive line?

"Nothing probably to the extent that we had a year ago. We were very intentional. Geno, and then right tackle, rotating there too. Nothing to that level right now. Doesn’t mean we don’t feel comfortable putting some guys out there, but, you know, especially with this group, I’d like them to get out there and generate some continuity, some momentum. Last year, I remember, the first play of the game, Parker’s helmet threw off. Proctor got hurt in pregame. So by the second play in the game, we had two new faces out there. Hopefully we got a little better luck this year when it comes to that. But yeah, that’s kind of the unit and the group we’d like to have out there most of the snaps. Doesn’t mean a guys might, here and there, float out there for one series. But it’s not something as intentional as what we were a year ago.”

Live Updates:

(latest updates at the top)

DeBoer's press conference ends after 12 minutes. You can see the whole thing on the BamaCentral YouTube page shortly.
DeBoer doesn't expect there to be as much rotation on the offensive line as last season. He jokes that Brailsford's helmet came off on the first play
DeBoer says starting on the road "gives you an urgency" in fall camp, knowing they're starting out with a big game.
DeBoer says he has no problem putting true freshman cornerback Dijon Lee out on the football field.
"You feel very confident with what that's going to look like on game day."- DeBoer on the relationship between Parker Brailsford and Ty Simpson starting the season on the road.
DeBoer calls Geno VanDeMark a swiss army knife along the offensive line.
DeBoer says OL Jaeden Roberts is questionable for this game in the concussion protocol.
"We know we're going to face a good test here this weekend."- DeBoer says
DeBoer arrives at the podium a little early. "It's game week. It's a great feeling for everyone."
Wommack clocked in at just under 12 minutes. DeBoer should be at the podium in the next 10 minutes.
Grubb is very concise with his answers. His time at the podium only lasted about five minutes.
Alabama's media room inside the Mal Moore Athletic facility has gotten an update and upgrade this offseason. The media now sits a lot closer to DeBoer.

Full Transcript

Live Updates:

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