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Kalen DeBoer has the undesirable task of following Nick Saban at Alabama. Arguably the greatest head coach of all time, Saban won six national titles with the Tide, and a seventh with LSU.
He opted to call it quits on a career this past offseason after leading his team to yet another College Football Playoff appearance.
Following that retirement decision, Saban noted the changing landscape in the sport in his reasoning for moving on.
“Well, all the things I believed in for all these years of coaching, 50 years of coaching, no longer exist in college athletics. It’s whoever wants to pay, the most money raised, the most money to buy the most players is going to have the best opportunity to win.”
-Nick Saban
Now, a fresh outlook enters Tuscaloosa with DeBoer coming over from the West Coast. Like Saban, he boasts success at each previous stop, but he offers a stark contrast to the head coach in many ways.
Offense vs. Defense. Laid back vs. in your face.
Most notably, his anti-profanity approach could be a welcomed change for those who’ve previously played for Saban. That’s not to say DeBoer won’t bring intensity.
It will just be different.
And while many around the program aren’t ready to forget all that Saban accomplished, DeBoer is ready to enter the next era of Alabama football.
That includes a facelift to Nick Saban’s former office!
In an interview with Ross Dellenger, Kalen DeBoer revealed a remodel of the legendary coach’s confines.
Few items in Nick Saban’s former office at Alabama were more memorable than that coffee table — the centerpiece of a sitting area adjacent to his expansive wooden desk, the resting place for dozens of bowl and championship rings…
Nestled between a pair of cushioned arm chairs and a brown leather couch, the varnished wooden coffee table displayed nearly two decades of history, artifacts from perhaps the greatest dynasty that college football has ever seen…
The coffee table is now gone, replaced with an unoccupied glass version. The rings are also absent. So too is Saban’s famous hat rack, his family photos, autographed game footballs, framed pictures from White House trips, baseball caps and trophies.
The office of the head coach at Alabama is mostly barren. It was left this way… in preparation for a renovation this spring.
DeBoer is working to update the office, trading wood paneling for a more open, all glass design.
Met with Nick Saban in his office today … here’s a peek at what it looks like … #RollTide pic.twitter.com/FLEZui5gbo
— Heather Dinich (@CFBHeather) March 29, 2023
“It will look like a lot of the modern type of things that we see today, with the glass — a lot of the glass and different lights and all that stuff,” Dellenger said.
It will even have a TV!
Alabama football is moving into the future in every aspect. Kalen DeBoer wants to build on what Nick Saban achieved, but he wants to do so in his own way.
With that being said, the last remnants of the Saban era are soon to be gone! DeBoer will look to carve his own path, starting with the 2024 season.