BIRMINGHAM, ALA. — Kalen DeBoer was greeted with a rainy morning in Birmingham ahead of the Regions Tradition Pro-am golf tournament. The new Alabama head coach is taking part in the event for the first time, taking over a tradition that was a staple of Nick Saban's offseasons during his coaching tenure. The Crimson Tide coaching legend was also in attendance Wednesday.
Before their respective tee times, DeBoer and Saban spoke with local media about participating in the tournament. DeBoer also gave a few updates on Alabama’s roster heading into the summer.
Here’s everything DeBoer said at the Regions Tradition event.
Opening statement
It’s just great to be here. What an event. My first time here so I’m really looking forward to spending some time. I’m not so sure about the golf game piece, but just seeing all the fans and seeing everyone that supports our program. Looking forward to a great day.
On participating in the event in his first year as head coach
Yeah, just being out in the community. There’s great causes that everything supports. So just being out here and signing autographs and seeing the excitement, it continues to motivate you. I think you’ve got to be driven in the first place but seeing everyone out here and the excitement for this fall it’s a lot of fun to be a part of.
On Alabama’s spring transfer portal
I think it’s been really good. I feel like we will improve our roster when it’s all said and done. There wasn’t a lot of spots left for us to be able to bring some players in so we’ve had to be really choosy. As guys have entered we’ve continued to tweak and adjust our plan. But I think we’re right where we want to be and getting close to finalizing these last couple of spots on the team.
On James Brockermyer entering the portal
Every player’s got their reasons for wanting to test the waters and check things out. I appreciate talking more about our guys and our team but we’ll always have nothing but respect for him and the effort he’s put into our program just like every other player who’s poured all they have into it. I think we’ll have some guys within out team that can bridge that gap that is left, and I think we’ll be just fine.
On Parker Brailsford returning to the team in June
Yep, absolutely. No question
On his golf game and dream player to play with
Well, that would be Tiger, Tiger Woods. I think he’s just so captivating when it comes to the golf game. But this could be interesting out here. The one thing I know is that the fans will never be worried about me playing too much golf and focusing on football after watching what happens today.
On what Jalen Milroe needs to improve on this summer
I think he really came a long ways in processing, playing the game, moving the chains. So when he hits fall camp I think just having 100% confidence in every concept we put in, especially in the first week or two that he’s had rep after rep after rep, and can not just execute but also run the whole show. Just telling every guy what their responsibility is and so it goes beyond your position and goes onto leading the rest of the offense.
On Jalen Hale’s recovery
This season will certainly be a tough one but I don’t want to also say that he’ll be out for the entire year. It depends on how long the season goes. He’s done an amazing job and the process and recovery for him as been sped up even since the injury happened back in the spring. So he’s got an amazing mindset about him and because of that, that’s why he’s had that progress at such a fast pace.
On what flavor milkshake he’d celebrate with if he wins the tournament
I’m sure I’ll have plenty of time to figure that out in the years to come so I’m not sure.
Saban on participating in the event in retirement
It's all the same. I'm trying to make people feel good; make them feel better. Nobody remembers anything you say but they do remember how you make them feel. So hopefully we can make some people feel good.
On working for ESPN during the NFL Draft
I did enjoy it. It's a lot of preparation. I did enjoy the team that we were with and got a lot of good direction, learned a lot. It's challenging, something new. But that's some of the stuff we were looking forward and one of the things that I look forward to now is since I'm one of you I can ask the questions.
On who his preseason No. 1 team is
I hadn't even thought about that yet. I'm gonna need to do a little research on that but there's gonna be a lot of good teams. It's interesting right now to try and figure out who's who because of the movement of players until that all settles down and you know exactly who's gonna play on what team. Then you can make a better judgment.
On what he'll miss most about coaching
Relationships with players. I actually played golf with Mark Ingram and Tua [Tagovailoa] on Monday, I had them up and we played. Those relationships that you have with players, there's nothing that beats that. But we care about them all so we'll continue those relationships.
