For the first time in 17 seasons, Alabama will have a new face on its sideline. The Kalen DeBoer era will officially kick off at 6 p.m. Saturday when Alabama takes on Western Kentucky to open the season.

While fans will take their time getting familiar with the first-year coach, the Crimson Tide has wasted no time prepping for the Hilltoppers this week. That prep has been helped by a few coaches who have some familiarity with Alabama’s first foe of 2024.

Alabama offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan, wide receivers coach JaMarcus Shephard and tight ends coach Bryan Ellis all had stints in Bowling Green, Kentucky as part of their respective coaching journeys. Now with the Crimson Tide, the trio will get a full circle moment as they focus on their respective duties and help Alabama get off to a strong start to the season.

Here’s a look at Sheridan, Shepherd and Ellis’ time at Western Kentucky, and what each coach said this week about facing the Hilltoppers.

Time at Western Kentucky: passing game coordinator/quarterbacks (2012), general assistant (2011)

Game coached: Alabama 35, Western Kentucky 0 — Sept. 8, 2012

Sheridan knows what it’s like to be on the opposite sideline against Alabama inside Bryant-Denny Stadium. He served as the Hilltoppers quarterbacks coach in 2012 when the Crimson Tide defeated Western Kentucky 35-0 just one week after a win over No. 8 Michigan. Sheridan remembered the talented crop of players Alabama had at its disposal and also recalled admiring the Crimson Tide’s pregame routine.

“I thought there were really, really great players and coaches here at Alabama that we were competing against,” Sheridan said Tuesday. “It was an incredible environment. I can remember just the songs, the pageantry, the history, traditions, you certainly feel that when you come to a place like Alabama. I can remember specifically hearing Coach [Bear] Bryant's voice about calling your mom. I remember that being played over the big screen.”

Sheridan will probably have a more enjoyable time soaking in the pageantry in 2024 as a part of the Crimson Tide. Alabama’s defense steamrolled Western Kentucky on that September day in 2012, holding the Hilltoppers to 224 yards of offense as future pros C.J. Mosley and Ha Ha Clinton-Dix gave Sheridan all he could handle.

“It wasn't the most enjoyable day for the Hilltoppers, but our kids battled hard,” Sheridan said. “We had a lot of really good players there at Western Kentucky during that time. Obviously Alabama did as well. It was an incredible environment to coach in and compete in.”

Time at Western Kentucky: wide receivers coach (2014-15), offensive analyst (2013), defensive analyst (2011-12)

Game coached: Alabama 35, Western Kentucky 0 — Sept. 8, 2012

Western Kentucky will always hold a special place in Shephard’s heart. Bowling Green is not only his first college coaching stop, it’s also the birthplace of his first daughter.

"Western is a great place," Shephard said Wednesday. "The thing I remember the most is that my daughter was born there. Alana was born in Bowling Green. It was an unbelievable day. She is one of the three lights of my life — I should really say four, with my wife, too. That's probably what I remember most about being in Bowling Green."

The other thing Shephard remembers about coaching the Hilltoppers was the “dog fights” he was involved in against bigger schools. Along with Sheridan, Shephard was also a part of the 2012 Hilltoppers that faced Alabama. He also helped coach against Tennessee, LSU and Kentucky during his five-season stint in Bowling Green. Shephard's time as the underdog against SEC foes gave him a good understanding of what to tell his players about how WKU will approach Saturday’s contest.

“I don’t think they’re gonna come down here with the intent of anything other than but to try to win the football game,” Shephard said. “That is legitimately how I felt every time we played some of these tougher opponents. I came here with the intent to win the football game. So we gotta make sure our players know and understand that our expectation is to go out and perform every play with a 1-0 mentality. It literally has to be, ‘Alright we’re not worried about the result of the game. We’re worried about what we’re gonna do every single play.’”

Time at Western Kentucky: co-offensive coordinator/interior receivers, offensive coordinator/quarterbacks (2019-20), wide receivers/passing game coordinator (2016) running backs (2015), offensive quality control assistant (2014)

Game coached: Alabama 38, Western Kentucky 10 — Sept. 10, 2016

Ellis overlapped with Shephard during the 2014 and 2015 seasons and worked at Western Kentucky as recently as 2021. Ellis was the offensive coordinator under Hilltoppers coach Tyson Helton that season and also served under Helton in 2018-19.

Like Shephard, Ellis understands Western Kentucky's confidence against Power Four foes. Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Ellis mentioned road trips to Arkansas (2019) and Vanderbilt (2015), two games that ended in wins for Western Kentucky. With the understanding of how well the Hilltoppers can step up in big games, Ellis has made sure to communicate to his tight end unit that they won’t be facing an opponent that will go down quietly.

“That place is different, man,” Ellis said. “I was there for six years and I don’t think we went into a game — and we had to play Alabama in 2016 when they had a really good defense — and those players never went into a game thinking they were about to go lose. I can promise you that. And I’ve told our tight ends, ‘We may be bigger. We may be a little bit faster but those kids aren't going to come in here and be scared. We’re going to have to come in there and fight.’"

While Ellis is focused on helping Alabama’s tight ends find success against the Hilltoppers' defense, he’s also looking forward to a reunion with a coach who's had a lot of influence on Ellis’ career.

“It’ll be fun,” Ellis said. “I’m sure we’ll exchange some pleasantries there at the beginning of the game and then it’ll be like any other game. A lot of fond memories at that place. It’s a great place, starting from the top down from President [Timothy] Caboni and AD Todd Stewart. Tyson Helton is one of the finest human beings in this profession. He’s like a second father to me, obviously. You wish you didn’t have to play these games sometimes and for those free hours we’ll be enemies and after that, we’ll get back to loving each other.”

Ellis still carries a piece of advice from Helton. That lesson helped Ellis stay focused on the task at hand when Western Kentucky traveled to Tuscaloosa in 2016 and has also helped him stay humble during his rise up the coaching ranks.

“Something Coach Helton taught me a long time ago is you do the best job you can do and you be where your feet are and good things will happen to you,” Ellis said. “That’s as a player, as a human being and for sure as a coach and so that’s the way I’ve tried to coach and live my life and I can’t tell you that I didn’t think something like this was coming, I’ve put a lot of work into this and you work really hard at it, try to do things the right way, and I’m a believer in Karma and when you do things the right way and treat people right I think good things happen to you.”

Now Karma, and a whole lot of hard work, have placed Ellis on the sideline of one of the most historic schools in college football. Ellis hasn’t forgotten how he got there or why he coaches in the first place. It will mean a lot to Ellis to reunite with his former coach, just as it now means a lot to represent Alabama while helping maintain the Crimson Tide's standard under DeBoer.

“You take great pride in wearing the script ‘A’,” Ellis said. “You take great pride in these kids and the way that they work, and I think when you watch how hard they work and how hard they want it, it makes you as a coach go, ‘We gotta do right by them.’ So getting to walk out there in Bryant-Denny and getting to do this for the first time with the script A on our chest I think there comes a great honor of that in doing things the right way and walking out there ready to kick somebody’s ass.”