Kalen DeBoer is settled in as the Alabama football coach after six months on the job, and he is now getting ready for his first season which is approaching very quickly while trying to live up to the standard that Nick Saban set. He spoke on the expectations that Alabama football has at SEC Media Days.

“I understand there's only one Coach Saban,” Kalen DeBoer said, via Andrea Adelson of ESPN. “There will only ever be one Coach Saban. This program is special, and I take it as a great honor to be the on that gets to do everything we can to carry on the great tradition.”

DeBoer knows that the standard is super high for Alabama football, but he embraces that and would rather have that than being somewhere else. He also said that his mindset when it comes to coaching the team does not change, as that will bring the results that are desired.

“But for me personally, it was just more about understanding that coaching football is coaching football,” DeBoer said, via Adelson. “It's been just an awesome blessing to be a part of this program, to continue to have that expectation on us. the alternative is to be at places where there aren't expectations.”

DeBoer led Washington to the College Football Playoff last year, beating Texas in the semifinal game to advance to the championship, where the Huskies lost to Michigan. With Alabama, DeBoer will be able to get a ton of talent, and he already has a ton in house. It will be particularly interesting to see what he does with Jalen Milroe this season.

How Jalen Milroe develops in DeBoer's system could be telling when it comes to his NFL Draft stock. The physical tools are all there for Milroe and DeBoer could put together a dangerous offense, like he did with Michael Penix Jr. at Washington. DeBoer is confident that he has the trust in his players.

“Their chemistry and their strust and belief is one thing, and the accountability as well,” DeBoer said, via Adelson. “These guys, they know they need each other to reach the goals that we have as a program.”

Kalen DeBoer's early work to keep Alabama football roster together

As with most cases when a coach leaves, it is hard work for the incoming coach to keep the players, and DeBoer described that process of keeping players together in his first two weeks as the head coach of Alabama football.

“Every minute mattered,” DeBoer said, via Adelson. “It really did. It mattered because these guys had phones blowing up. And all it took would maybe be on ecall and the right one or just at some point, not moving fast enough with getting a coach in place that you know made them feel good about the direction we were going. It was just about having some urgency to try to get things in line.”

Now, DeBoer will try to carry the torch from Saban and lead a successful program in an SEC that just got more competitive with the additions of Texas and Oklahoma.