First-year Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer gets his first taste of the Third Saturday in October rivalry on Saturday afternoon as the Crimson Tide travels to Knoxville to face Tennessee in a critical game with SEC and College Football Playoff ramifications.
DeBoer discussed what he’s learned about the rivalry in his short time at Alabama, what he’s seen from Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava on tape and much more. Here’s everything DeBoer said.
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Opening statement
“Rolling from South Carolina to Tennessee, guys start the week as we always do with Sunday and just bringing a good mindset, putting the work into the workouts, wanting to continue to always learn and get better from the things that happened on a Saturday. A lot of highlights, obviously a lot of things that we’ve got to continue to clean up. It’s in all phases of the game.
“But moving to Tennessee, we’re really looking forward to it. It’s exciting. Obviously, this game is a big deal to fans and obviously to us, and we understand that’s the case for them as well. So looking forward to a really high level, heightened week with preparation and a big game on Saturday.”
On what people have told him about the Tennessee rivalry
“I’ve been told it’s a big deal, and I know it’s a big deal. You see it from afar. These are the games, much like we’ve had— already had a couple here— they’re the big ones on the schedule. As a coach, they’re all big in different ways and you take one at a time. But certainly understand the significance of the rivalry. Guys are going to be very motivated to go out and do their best and prepare well and be great on Saturday.”
On what he’s heard about the Tennessee rivalry, if he’s a fan of cigars
“I know that this tradition goes back quite a ways. I know that cigars are a part of it. But I know that what I’m trying to do is just make sure we do our part as a football program and prepare so that people can celebrate and enjoy the rivalry on our end. And a lot of respect for Tennessee, their coaches, their players. But we’re just pouring into the things we can control, what we can focus and want to bring that joy to not just the hard work we put in personally and within this team but also so our fan base can enjoy it as well.”
On what he has seen from Tennessee’s Nico Iamaleava
“I think he’s got a live arm, extremely talented. You can tell that they’ve got the skill on the outside to where they can hit the home run and make big plays anytime. I think a lot of it is just trying to disrupt him to where the continuity and the flow is just not consistent, and that’s going be any quarterback, every week, that’s the goal is try to just really cause some chaos and change things up on them. They get into their tempo off of positive plays, and that’s the key is try to make sure that they don’t get into that rhythm, just like any offense, that’s what you’re trying to do. He’s talented. You can see it’s there. He’s still, I think, growing and developing, and we’ve just got to make sure we disrupt him enough and make sure we’re showing pictures and also getting bodies on bodies on the outside to where we make life hard like we would want to any other opponent.”
On if it’s easier or harder to scout a team that’s struggling
“Well, you know that they’re going through it, and speaking really generally now because that’s the question. You know they’re going to continue to try to find the things that really work well for them and you’ve got to be ready for anything and everything. But I think at this point in the year there’s still going to be some kind of basis that you work off of. Those added things, they’ve got to execute them as well too. That’s where we’re at.
“We’ve got things we want to add in and continue to do but we’ve got to get enough reps at them in practice, on top of the things that are already a part of our identity. Because if you can’t execute it well in an SEC game when things are moving that fast, when there’s so many good players on the football field that can backfire, that can hurt you. The key is making sure we do what we do, apply our rules in everything that we have whether it’s offense, defense, special teams. And then be disciplined with it. That’s going to be the name of the game this week, every week moving forward.”
