Veteran UMS-Wright coach Terry Curtis has some point-blank advice for new Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer.
“I just hope he realizes he’s at Alabama,” said Curtis, who has won eight state titles at UMS. “It’s a whole different ballgame.”
The Crimson Tide is set to hire DeBoer, who led Washington to the national title game this season, to replace legendary coach Nick Saban, according to multiple reports. DeBoer was meeting with his players at Washington late Friday.
“I’m sure they did their due diligence,” Curtis said. “I don’t want to say anything bad, but undoubtedly, he wasn’t their No. 1 choice. But he’s been successful. I guess we will have to wait and find out who he hires.
“I’m sure he will need coach Saban to help him and kind of give him the lay of the land. To me, it’s just kind of surprising to go way out West to get a coach with no real background in this part of the country.”
Several prominent Alabama high school football coaches said they also were taking a wait-and-see attitude about DeBoer.
“I think Alabama fans have to trust the athletic director and the people who made the hire,” Thompson head coach Mark Freeman said. “Let the guy get here and prove himself and see who he puts around him. The alumni and the boosters have to get on board and support him and pray he keeps it going.”
Recruiting – whether from high school or in the transfer portal – is clearly the lifeline of college football success. Alabama’s final recruiting class under Saban is currently ranked second behind only SEC rival Georgia. It includes a pair of five-stars and 19 four-star recruits. Washington’s 2024 class ranks 36th, according to 247 sports. It includes seven four-star players and 16 commits total.
“The first thing he’ll need to do is get down here and get some coaches familiar with the SEC and the South and Alabama,” said new Hoover coach Drew Gilmer, who led Clay-Chalkville to two of the last three Class 6A state titles. “He will have to get in there and hold on to those kids they have and build relationships with them, and I’m sure he will.
“It will be interesting to see how fast he can pick up on things. It really all goes back to hiring good assistants and getting good recruits. His record on the field certainly speaks for itself.”
The top unsigned player in the country, Saraland 5-star wide receiver Ryan Williams, quickly decommitted from Alabama when Saban announced his retirement on Wednesday.
Alabama officials informed the AHSAA this week that, if a coach was hired in time, he would likely be at the Alabama Sports Writers Association Mr. Football banquet on Tuesday in Montgomery. Williams, who is visiting Texas A&M this weekend, is again a finalist for Class 6A Back of the Year.
“He’s got to get to work quickly and try to solidify the guys Alabama has and try to get some, like Ryan Williams, back if he can,” Curtis said. “If he can do that, it would obviously be big.”
Williams’ high school coach, Jeff Kelly, was intrigued by the hire.
“With him being out on the West Coast, I know we don’t hear a lot but, watching them play and the things they do offensively, it seems like he’s as good as anyone out there,” Kelly said. “It’s a fun brand of football to watch. I think he will be a guy who will stretch the field, and Alabama has been successful with that lately with Tua (Tagovailoa) and Jalen (Milroe) and other guys. I don’t know him, but I look forward to getting to know him.”
DeBoer grew up in South Dakota and has little or no background in the South. That likely will make the structure of his first staff at Alabama integral.
“On any staff, who you hire is important,” Hewitt-Trussville coach Josh Floyd said. “That is the case no matter where you are or what level you are on. He’ll need to have guys who know the South and know the landscape. That’s very important, but I do think Alabama sells itself. They have every resource available to recruit players and get coaches. He’s already starting way ahead of most people.”
Floyd said he was impressed by DeBoer’s ability to win at every level in which he has coached. Each coach agreed on one main thing.
“You have to live off recruiting,” Freeman said. “He has got to get to know kids as sophomores and juniors and build those relationships. He needs to hire some Alabama people. That’s the biggest thing – hire some guys who have been in the SEC, recruited in the SEC and know the background of Alabama. That is a must.”
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