Kalen DeBoer During Monday’s Press Conference

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.- After a much-needed win in Baton Rouge, the Crimson Tide looks ahead to finish out the remainder of their schedule in order to achieve their seasonal goals.

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The Crimson Tide is set for a 9-1 Mercer Bears, but before the matchup, here's a trip down memory lane to highlight what has occurred this far into the season and what went into the success in Baton Rouge.

The Crimson Tide has had success, failure, barriers, and mistakes but has managed. Before LSU, they had not won on the road against a Southeastern Conference opponent. Some of that failure was due to mistakes and not being on the same page. The Crimson Tide knew those mistakes had to be fixed before their next road test."We did a little bit with just the procedure, a little bit of adjustment on just the communication there. We had done it that way. We've done it both ways different places I've been. We just did tweak it a small amount," said Kalen DeBoer regarding pre-snap adjustments during the LSU matchup compared to other road games. "I think probably as much as anything it's just the number of reps we got. This being the second time really after the Tennessee game and then also having a bye week and just really honing in on it and be dialed. It helps when you make plays too."

To have continued growth and success, leadership is needed, and Tyler Booker has remained a true leader for the Crimson Tide, no matter the situation. “There’s been a number of leaders on our team that have really, since day one, been critical for us. The question’s about Book. I can’t give him enough praise. I can say this because I know he handles it. He can handle it well. It’s not something that goes to his head. He is so passionate about this place. He’s so passionate about being the best he can be. He’s got a resiliency that has helped us as a team also have that level of response to adversity that’s been positive. He just keeps pushing. He’s got respect amongst his teammates at the highest level. From a leadership standpoint, he’s vocal, but obviously he leads by example all at the same time. The combination, he might be one of the best leaders I’ve ever been around. I know that’s saying a lot because I’ve been around a lot of really good ones. When you put the guys in that category, he’s really special and it’s because he takes care of his business 100-percent of the time and he’s pushing others to make sure that they’re at their best too and I think that’s what great leaders do is they bring the best out of everyone else around them,” said DeBoer.

Growth, leadership, grit, and determination have played key roles in the progress the Crimson Tide has made so far on the season. Much adversity has displayed, but weekly progress has been shown, with the last two matchups making a statement. “I like the progress that we’ve had. Every week’s a new challenge in different ways. Last week just with the passing game and kind of the way we felt they would attack us, rising to the challenge was big. The shutout the week before happened as a combination of stopping the run and the pass, different quarterbacks in and out, but that’s progress. There’s steps forward. There’s confidence that continues to build, a trust that happens between the front and the back halves. I just really like the demeanor that they bring. It all starts with what they’re doing here’s going to be tomorrow morning, Tuesday when you step on the football field. That’s really the demeanor that you want and we’ve had and needs to continue for us to do the same thing this Saturday that we did last Saturday and so, again when that mindset’s where it needs to be and the work’s done each and every day that trust, that belief, it just continues to build and you can see that with our defense” said DeBoer on regards to claiming a blowout and shutout in the last two matchups against ranked opponents.

Leading a team to success after two losses is not DeBoer's first rodeo as he led the Huskies to a win over Oregon in 2022. The Huskies never lost again and finished with an 11-2 record. "The experiences that we have individually, we always remember them and the learning moments that you go through. For our team, they weren't through that. But for me, you do take in those times, whether it's that season or 10 years ago -- there's just things you go through that were part of the process then that you try to remember, try to figure out what worked and what didn't to keep the team moving in the right direction. Honestly, it's really simple. You've got momentum to build off of, and you make sure you take advantage of it, and then you also continue to keep the pedal down, keep focused on what you believe in, and we've been doing that. We were doing that then, that year, and we're doing that now. Just staying the course. Just because all the sudden you kind of feel like you get over a hump doesn't mean you can just let off, because it's about the next play. The next one is the most important one, and that's been our focus really since Day 1," said DeBoer regarding past battles preparing him for the future.

As the Crimson Tide nears the end of their season, their focus is on being better than their last game and capitalizing on their recent success. "We understand that it’s all about building on what we did do last week because it was significant, just like we would learn from the areas that we’re falling short on in a game we’ve lost. It’s all about staying with the process, staying with the preparation. We want the guys to keep an edge because I think there is a little bit of an edge. A little bit of a backs against the wall, kind of fighting for your life at times that I think exists. I think every guy has a little different way that they’re driven to go out there and put forth the best effort in practice and bring the best energy that they have. What I’ve challenged the guys with is to have more leaders stepping up.  Our young guys aren’t young guys anymore, our transfers aren’t transfers anymore. We are a full team and we need every guy, because there’s starters that now - we just referred to Q - there’s starters that aren’t with us, aren’t able to be on the football field, due to injury. More and more guys got to step up on Saturdays, but more and more just need to step up as a leader. The more leaders that we can have, that first of all take care of their business, and bring in others that can bring the rest of the team with them. There’s a lot of influence on our football team in a good way. You can see it, you can feel it and that’s where it all starts."

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