Kalen DeBoer discusses swear-free approach to coaching at Alabama

Kalen DeBoer plans to coach with passion at Alabama, but don’t expect some of the profanity-laced tirades Nick Saban was known for during his time as the Crimson Tide’s head coach.

During an interview with The Next Round on Wednesday, DeBoer was asked about a comment made by Sioux Falls play-by-play announcer Tom Frederick, who stated he never heard the head coach say a curse word during their decade together in South Dakota.

DeBoer, who served as Sioux Falls offensive coordinator from 2000-04 before taking over as the head coach from 2005-09, joked that Frederick was typically out of earshot in the radio booth. However, the head coach admits he isn’t typically prone to foul language.

“There’s a fire don’t get me wrong,” DeBoer said. “There's a fire and there's a competitiveness that guys see. I think they see that already in the workouts. They feel that in how we meet in team meetings, and the standard that exists. It's still the same standard, it's just messaged a different way, I think. I just feel like you are who you are.”

It won’t always be sunshine and rainbows. DeBoer reiterated that there will be plenty of discipline within his program as players will be held accountable for their actions and performances at all times. However, his focus will center around repetition and positive reinforcement — two aspects that were drilled into him by his previous coaches during his playing career.

“What I had for coaches growing up in high school, they were just positive reinforcers,” DeBoer said. “If you didn’t do something right in a drill, I’m thinking about basketball and football in particular, I mean you were redoing it. The reinforcement of when you were good was even greater when things went well.

“That’s what I’m really trying to do is show our guys what it should look like and hold them accountable to that. We talked about practicing until you can’t get it wrong. You practice until you can always get it right. Just keep with it. You always get better with reps, and so we talk a lot about the repetition.”

DeBoer has a list of three expectations for both his coaches and his players. Coaches will be called to “teach, critique and demand,” while players are expected to “grind, refine and compete.”

While Alabama players have worked with DeBoer during the team’s 4th Quarter Program this month, they’ll get their first full taste of life under the first-year head coach next week. Alabama will open up its spring camp Monday with the first of 15 practices, leading up to the annual A-Day scrimmage on April 13.