Did Alabama get the Head Coach hire right?

As Nick Saban’s successor, Alabama has hired Kalen DeBoer away from Washington. Here’s what we know. Kalen DeBoer is a proven winner. An amazing human. Players love him. He has had success everywhere. He will succeed in building a TEAM & running it that way in Tuscaloosa. Cole Cubelic shares stories and his experiences with the new Crimson Tide head coach.

All right welcome M Cube Show podcast college football podcast usually coming to you on Sundays here we are again another emergency pod a another podcast that we have to do based on breaking news and that is now that kayin dor is going to be named the Alabama head

Football coach Washington coach that um if you listen go back what we said when coach Sabin left here on this show if you’ve listened to M Roy and I in the morning on wjx in Birmingham 7: to 10 a.m. weekdays we said from the beginning that norvale was real dor was the leader

In the clubhouse Sark would be vetted probably be difficult to make it happen Landing was too expensive you weren’t going to put up $40 million 20 million $30 million whatever it was to just talk to a guy Lane wasn’t going to happen davo wasn’t going to happen we told you

Those and so here we are now with kayin dbor a guy whose resume should speak for itself but I know a lot of people may look at this and say oh he hasn’t recruited in the South or hasn’t coached in the south that’s fine um the guy is

An absolute grinder you listen to the way his players talk about him which I think is the most important part um I tweeted out an interview that we did on M ran cubic in the morning with him uh I’m gonna find the one with Jake hner his former quarterback at Fresno State

I’ll tweet that one out Jake Raves about kayin dor said he’s responsible for him as a player as a man pushed him to become a different player Mike pinnick said the same thing pinnick told us uh I’ve got my notes actually from the Almo Bowl that’s up here

And and pinnick talked about some of the things that uh kayin dor had helped him with and helped him as a player said um I didn’t feel like I was growing as a player um while I was at Indiana the last year um kayin dor a wizard I feel

Like I’m played Madden with him and Ryan grub while they’re working with me no coach in the country out Works him uh lets me be free helps me play more free um I do think going to that bringing Ryan grub is could be massive U there is another offensive coordinator in the SEC

That’s really good by the way that a lot of you don’t know much about that if he could not get Ryan grub and somehow Ryan grub became the head coach at Washington which I think he’ll get a look um I have a feeling that kayin dor would make that

His first call and I think he could get him we’ll get into that if and when that comes up and that becomes a possibility but if he brings Ryan grub Ryan grub is phenomenal and these guys as a Duo give you every single look every single formation every motion every shift every

Trade all the personel groupings and it’s not just throwing the football around I know people look at pinck this year but that was because of the group of receivers that they had look at Jack West over the tight end and how they used him um also go look at some of his

Previous stops and I mean a guy named Marcus mgoyan at Fresno through for 3629 yards 25 touchdowns five picks I mean look at haers 2021 at Fresno State 67% 496 yards 33 and nine completely ridiculous um and then you say well you know don’t run the ball not

Really a group that I look at and say oh can they be ground and pound well their offensive line won the Joe Moore award this year as the nation’s best offensive line and physicality was a massive part of that because I have a vote on it one

Vote I don’t control who wins as uh some certain Georgia fans will try to tell you but uh they impressed all the offensive line coaches in college football that vote on it and a lot of other people that played the position and coached the position that vote on it

And that’s why they got it um you could go back to his time at Eastern Michigan had a thousand rusher in 2015 ran for over 2,000 yards as a team in 2016 had a thousand rusher this year in Dylan Johnson Mississippi State transfer um had over 1900 yards rushing as a team

Last year at Washington had an 800 yard rusher in 2019 in Indiana uh RAM and pinnick by the way his last year at Indiana uh 23 touchdowns nine interceptions they combined for so I mean the numbers are there and they’re going to be able to move the football

They’re going to find ways to do that I think they can find ways to use different Talent sets and different sets of skills to run their offense around that’s one thing that I love about grub and I think Kaylin’s very similar and Jay Kaner kind of kind of helped me with

This as well they had a kid named Ronnie Rivers at Fresno downhill Runner physical Runner like battering ram and you know Jake was fine the ball off he says all depends on the looks that we get and so they are going to go with what they have so whatever the strengths

Of that offense are that are on that roster that’s what they’re going to feature and that’s what they’re going to utilize if they have multiple tight ends they’ll play them they’ll use them and they’ll formation you that way um had an interesting conversation also with kayin before the Sugar Bowl just kind of

Asking him about how he wanted the tempo of that game to go and you know he he reiterate he reiterated to me that we can go Tempo we can go f fast I don’t know if we want this game to go fast we’ll probably try to slow it down a

Little bit but if we need to play ground and pound we will it’s all about the team with him and that’s what I love about him and that’s what I think is fantastic um I asked him also in that interview I said you know your team

Feels like it has this it Factor um oftentimes we’ll see that with certain teams in college football you guys have seen a lot of them just like I have where it’s like man whether it was TCU two years ago Washington this past year 2013 Auburn they’re those teams that

Just find a way they just figure it out I said ‘if you had to try to put some your finger on it for this team what would it be H how would you describe that and he said confidence and he said the reason is we talk about it we stress

It in the offseason we meet about confidence during the season we talk about confidence during practice with certain plays how they’re executed why we run them conceptually why things are being run it builds the players confidence it helps their confidence and he said I think when the lights are

Shining the brightest our teams are confident and they know that they’re going to be able to go out there there and be successful um also just kind of sidebar he’s one of the greatest guys you’ll speak to he’s just an awesome human being he loves football di hard

Football fan at the almobile two years ago I sat next to him at the luncheon and I had met him briefly but we talked to that entire time and I think we stuck around for about an extra 10 15 minutes and talked some more and he told me a

Cool story about how when he was growing up that because you know obviously I told him I played at Auburn I worked for SEC network normally but I’m excited to do game watched you guys at Fresno I’ll tell you a Fresno story here in a minute

Um but I have been following you and obviously you know know about Indiana and I talked to I talked to Kane wuk who coached with him in the indana and he’s like man the guy just does not No One’s Gonna outwork him he’s Relentless but he doesn’t come across with the same

Demeanor as Nick Sabin or a couple of other guys who are Relentless in that way so some people don’t really think he has that I believe that he does and he was telling me how he goes man I remember you know watching Alabama games coach by Bear Bryant with my dad and he

Was was like some of some of my Fondest Memories of college football so I think this is a job that’s not just the Alabama job for him I think it’s one that means a lot to him listen guy from the far Midwest he’s not going to have a

Dream job maybe in Tuscaloosa but I think that he has a certain different respect for it for different reasons which is one of the main probably key cognizance is still why he took it um the staff will be important defensively I’ll tell you this I think a lot of the

Staff there could be okay um having Nick Sabin still around I think could help with that um do I think T Rob deserves a shot at defensive coordinator I do do I think T Rob Lees if he doesn’t get it I do um and I think there are a couple of

Other guys defensively on that staff that could find a home and could stay and could be there keep your eye on Scott Huff offensive line coach if grub comes and huff comes you got really that that group together offensively that could be fantastic um if if Ryan

Grub got the job at Washington and didn’t come uh I wouldn’t rule out Tommy Reese and find some hybrid offense to be able to run and put kin’s brain with his and maybe figure that out I think it’s a bit of a long shot but I wouldn’t rule

It out um going back to what we mentioned with another coordinator earlier in this broadcast in that’s where I really think he would go um but I’ve been able now to when we delivered the Joe Moore award the Almo bow last year the Sugar Bowl this year had him on

The show a couple times I feel like I’ve gotten to know him fairly well and he’s just he’s an amazing human being and hearing the way that his players talk about him the love for each other in that facility the respect for one another in that facility his

Understanding of how to push guys when to push guys when to lean on guys when to love on guys the success he’s had with transfers guys you know like I do that that doesn’t always work when you bring different guys into your facility you have to have leadership and veterans

That want to go out there and win and want to do things that the coach wants them to do and he just has a way of getting that out of guys I have a ton of respect for him I have a ton of respect for his football IQ I think he’s going

To be successful in Alabama but you got to get away from the comps right this is not the NFL draft we don’t need a comp to a head coach here there anywhere else do not compare this man to Nick sabbin there’s not another Nick Sabin walking

Through that door hate to steal the line from Hunter Johnson there but it’s not no one else is going to do what Nick Sabin did not next year not the next five years never ever again will we get 16 straight 10- win Seasons never ever will we get six national championships

At a school where we’re headed in college football that shit’s about to be way too hard to be able to pull that off but I do think kayin dbor can be a consistent winner I think he can do it in different ways and I think he’s a personality that Alabama fans are going

To like and I promised myself that I wouldn’t use the word fit anymore so if you’re looking for me to go that Direction with this is it is it not I have sworn that word off because I have seen too many perfect fits in college football that flamed out or crashed and

Burned and just flat didn’t work okay um Gus Malon was a really good fit at Auburn Ed orron was the fit at LSU was there a better fit at LSU honestly I I I don’t I don’t think that there was so we’ve seen multiple coaches at different

Places be the fit the guy and it just didn’t work so I’ve sworn that word off not going to do it and I just think that his football Acumen his determination his Drive listen the recruiting relationships could that be a bit problematic sure but if Nick Sabin had

Any hand in this whatsoever he’s going to be on the phone making those calls to try to help help him get a head start on that he’s going to be talking to guys on that roster and telling them you’re going to have a chance to win because

That’s what this guy’s done 105 and 12 101 and N in non-co Seasons he’s 80 and3 after the first game that he has coached as a head coach at all of his stops I stole that one from you butt Elliott 2023 AP coach of the year he’s a

Pack 12 champion last year he’s got a college football playoff win under his belt won 21 straight games last year three-time niia champion at sou Falls as the head coach 12-2 versus ranked opponents 5- one overall as an underdog 25-3 at Washington in the last two

Seasons he’s 72 and one at home the only loss came during the covid year so he gave me a great quote when we had him last year he said success starts with service and I think he understands that there you have to be of service to your

Players to your staff to the people around you and whatever service you put into it is probably what you’re going to get back out of it so there’s just a lot of reasons to like kayin dor um I’ll go back and give you that Fresno State

Story that I was going to reference a moment ago so when M Roy and I started our Radio Show in Birmingham we would come in we would do the show and then we would sit in our office and we would watch film and we’re looking for random offenses to study different teams to

Study different offensive lines to watch and he’s like hey I got a buddy that swears like Fresno’s fun to watch you guys need to put Fresno on so we put Fresno on fall in love with Jay Kaner fall in love with Ronnie Rivers the offensive line just a bunch of future

Bar bouncers like non-athletic stiff as a board but just beating the hell out of people and like guys you would love to play with and not just the o line but the tight ends the receivers The Backs Haner all of them and then started paying a little bit more attention to

Kin because you know he was coaching that football team and when I saw the way those guys played and I saw the design of some of the things that they did and they weren’t more talented this a guy that has put a less talented team on the

Field I’m not GNA say more times that he hasn’t but a lot of times and found ways to win that’s what he does he finds way to win and if he can keep the talent pipeline coming to Tuscaloosa in just a similar fashion it doesn’t have to be as

Dominant as coach Saban had it in a similar fashion I think he can do more with less and the fact that he’s going to be able to do that offensively is going to be a massive Advantage so I I I think the recruiting part is interesting

Um I don’t buy this whole nil thing that um it’s not a turnkey service for the next coach and it only worked because Sabin was there well guess who’s still going to be there and if Nick Sabin sees that the nil portion of this is dipping

He’ll go talk to those people like I was I didn’t think Sabin would want to be around that was my opinion that was what I thought now talk talking to Chris low talking to some other people around there it looks like he’s going to have an office in prant Denny Stadium and is

He going to be there every day no hell go look at the pictures of his house in Florida man I wouldn’t be there every day either but he’s also going to want to see that thing succeed and even though he doesn’t want to be Hands-On in

My opinion and he doesn’t want to be the guy knocking on the door saying why you running that coverage why didn’t you hand the ball off why is this kid playing why isn’t that kid playing one thing that I did think of from a Nick Sabin perspective that I

Didn’t put on the podcast that we just dropped when Sabin retired was I say you guys have heard me say this all the time every coach needs an Fu coach and by the way there’s a couple in the SEC right now that are dealing with some things

That you could do yourself a great service speaking of the service quote that I just gave you success starts with service you could do yourself a great service by finding an Fu coach that could help you manage some of the things that you shouldn’t be doing and maybe

More things that you should be doing nonetheless Nick sabbin had an fu coach we just didn’t know it and we didn’t talk about it that way Joe pendry was that guy for Nick Sabin he was the man that he could lean on he was the man

That he could go to and ask questions and probably get some answers that he didn’t want and probably tell him some things he didn’t like hearing but Nick Sabin knew that Joe pendry wasn’t going to tell him those things unless it was for the betterment of the team so he

Took that advice I’ve talked to other staff members that work for Coach Sabin that said the guy text us every morning do you have any ideas what’s on your mind give me what you’re thinking and not to get mad at them or not to test them he just literally wanted ideas so I

Think Nick Sabin understands how to be assistance and how to help people in different things that he can do to be of service and he can do that without getting in the way and being a problem is the expectation going to be out of control you damn right it is it’s

Alabama that’s just it I have lived through probation I have lived through scholarship limitations I was recruited during scholarship limitations to Alabama I’ve lived through sub 500 Seasons I played in the first Iron Bowl in Brian Denny Stadium in over a 100 years played in the last Iron Bowl in

Birmingham I got a feeling about how the things have gone in the past prior to these kids just getting their driver’s license that have never seen Alabama lose less than 10 game or win less than 10 games in a season I don’t think it’s got any chance

To go back to that I really don’t and part of this machine that Sabin has built can run on cruise control to a certain extent but now they have a guy that can come in and he can find a way to make it as successful in certain ways

Certain departments and I think find a different type of success that can satisfy that fan base just don’t compare don’t contrast it’s not going to be what it was it isn’t but it can still be pretty damn good because this guy’s a hell of a coach and I think he’ll bring

Some great coaches with him I think he’ll bring some good players with him guys are going to hit the portal so be it you don’t hire a coach for one recruiting class are one recruit not the portal not high school not any particular year it doesn’t work that way also on the

Higher Greg burn knew what he was doing Greg burn now multiple times has run a master class on a coaching search the lack of leaks the lack of knowledge all of those things have been beyond impressive and I tip my cap Greg burn for that finally I can say this with authority

And I can say this with confidence kayin dor was one of the Front Runners for this job from the beginning I personally think that Dan Lanning had real interest but I also believe once they saw that price tag that was attached to Dan Lanning to even

Begin a negotiation which yes 20 to the school but then depending on who you talk to 8 10 12 more to Nike for however that thing is structured I believe Alabama Greg burn walked away that’s too much money in the nil era that could be spent somewhere else for a guy that’s

Been a head coach for two years and I think Dan Ling is incredible I think he’s amazing but you can’t enter some Hideki Matsuyama uh or Hado Nomo negotiation to bring a new head coach to your program in this day and age of college football you just can’t do it

Maybe Texas maybe Texas A&M could do it maybe USC could do it but not Alabama that well can run dry I know people don’t like to hear that but that’s just the reality of where we are so I think that this was Mike Norville and kayin

Dor with a tiny bit of optimism with Steve sarkeesian most likely knowing that things are going pretty good at Texas and there’s not going to be a reason he would leave for that job and that Texas would Annie up and make things right and go ahead and get him

Paid seon season in full effect norell gets the extension Sark gets the extension Dan laning gets his motion picture he gets his clicks and he gets his internet clout and there you go kayin dbor ends up being the guy but I think kayin dor was the front runner for

This job from the beginning I think Greg burn knew it I think Greg burn wanted it but Greg burn was also going to go and vet other candidates and see what else people had to say and what other people might look like as the Alabama head

Football coach it is an A+ hire for me it is one that I think will be successful it is one that I think will win and it’s one that I’m excited to have in the SEC to be able to cover on a daily weekly basis whether it’s games

Whether it’s on the radio in Birmingham whether it’s on this podcast you should be excited if you’re an Alabama fan and you should probably not be celebrating too much if you’re a fan that loves to hate Alabama more than you love to love your own school because kayin debor is

Going to find success so again I’ve talked to Jay Kaner about him he said the dude’s a machine the dude’s a badass that’s his guy Michael pinnick helped him be the football player that he is loves him to death U I’ve talked to coaches like I said that have coached

With him grub loves him um Kane W raved about just the football mind that he is and how great he is to be around you don’t hear from his other players that we covered that say as many positive things about him and not come to the realization that this guy’s an excellent

Football coach and an awesome human being so congrats to Alabama just a quick preview of what you’re getting how this thing went the information that we have we do have now an even more interesting interview coming up Sunday and that will be former Mississippi State now Washington quarterback Will

Rogers who probably has a decision to make as far as his future is concerned but you’re going to love hear him talking football you’re going to love hearing about his past just ex’s and El’s Mike Leech what he went through at Mississippi State Zack Arnett it’s an amazing interview and it’s still

Relevant but obviously very different now with what we’ll hear from Will Rogers we’re back Sunday with a normal addition always appreciate you guys tuning in Cube show please go subscribe we’re trying to get to 10,000 here before we get to the next football season getting close Josh PA says we

Can’t do it so please help there and also please like give us a good review if you can back with more on Sunday thanks for tuning in to cube show