New Alabama HC Kalen DeBoer once sought out football advice from Josh Heupel
New Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer has something unique in common with Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel. They're the only two SEC head coaches from South Dakota. DeBoer is from Milbank, which is about 90 minutes east of Heupel's hometown of Aberdeen. That South Dakota connection actually led to DeBoer seeking out […]
New Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer has something unique in common with Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel.
They're the only two SEC head coaches from South Dakota.
DeBoer is from Milbank, which is about 90 minutes east of Heupel's hometown of Aberdeen.
That South Dakota connection actually led to DeBoer seeking out some advice from Heupel when DeBoer was a coach at Sioux Falls in the 2000s.
DeBoer told The Athletic earlier this summer that he once drove to Oklahoma to get an up-close look at the Sooners' offense.
And Heupel was more than accommodating.
"There were just some little wrinkles here and there that we pulled from people," said DeBoer. "One year, we went down to Oklahoma because Heupel was another South Dakota guy. I didn’t really know him but we knew of each other. Our hometowns are 90 miles apart. Aberdeen and Milbank are right on the same highway, so I hopped in the car, went down there and he gave me free rein. I sat in a position meeting. He got me into a room and just started studying, and then he’d answer some of my questions. I went back to Oklahoma in 2011, when Jay Norvell was there and he was great to me."
Heupel was far from the only coach that DeBoer sought out advice from during that time period. But it certainly sounds like Heupel at least had a small influence on DeBoer's offensive philosophy.
DeBoer and Heupel will meet as opponents next fall when Alabama visits Knoxville on October 19.
That game will actually be DeBoer's second time coaching against the Vols. DeBoer was Indiana's offensive coordinator in the 2020 Gator Bowl (he stayed for the Gator Bowl after getting hired as the head coach at Fresno State). Tennessee beat Indiana 23-22 in that matchup.
Update: As Vols Wire's Dan Harralson points out, DeBoer and Heupel faced each other in 2016 when DeBoer was at Eastern Michigan and Heupel was at Missouri.
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