Nick Saban has promised to be an asset for new head coach Kalen DeBoer. And what an asset he can be.
Not only does Saban have a wealth of experience, but he has a wealth of championship experience — seven championships, to be exact, six of which came at Alabama.
He knows better than anyone else in the world what DeBoer will be going through in his first season as head coach in Tuscaloosa. What he doesn’t know, though, is what it will be like filling his own big shoes.
Saban did give some good advice to DeBoer, though, when recently talking with another great former head coach, Urban Meyer, on “The Triple Option” podcast.
“When you coach at these programs that have high expectations,” Saban said (h/t On3), “which is what we all want — there’s nothing wrong with that — but I think the number one thing you’ve got to do is be who you are. Focus on the things that are in front of you and don’t get impacted by external factors.”
There will obviously be a ton of pressure on DeBoer to keep up Saban’s championship pace — it’s worth noting that he has picked up right where Saban left off on the recruiting trail — but Saban relayed to his successor that the only expectations he has to manage are the ones between his ears.
“Everybody says there’s a lot of pressure,” Saban explained. “We all put more pressure on ourselves than anybody in the media, fans, or anybody else’s expectations could ever put on us.”
Ultimately, the rubber is going to meet the road in just a few weeks when DeBoer kicks off his inaugural campaign as Alabama’s head coach. The Tide’s first game of the season is scheduled for Aug. 31 against Western Kentucky. It should be a good way for DeBoer to settle in to the job.
