Alabama HC Kalen DeBoer says discipline issues sometimes stem from 'guys just trying so hard'
The Alabama Crimson Tide might have two losses before the calendar turns to November, but if you take the pulse of the fanbase, there is a bigger issue at hand. For years under Nick Saban the players in Crimson and White were buttoned up and as disciplined as they come in college football. Well, following […]
The Alabama Crimson Tide might have two losses before the calendar turns to November, but if you take the pulse of the fanbase, there is a bigger issue at hand.
For years under Nick Saban the players in Crimson and White were buttoned up and as disciplined as they come in college football.
Well, following multiple incidents this year including veterans and team captains like Malachi Moore and Kendrick Law, some have wondered what's gone wrong at the Capstone.
HC Kalen DeBoer did his best to explain.
DeBoer Answers Discipline Questions
"There have been some times, (been a lot of times, right,) where sometimes our awareness, or just understanding emotional discipline at times as well, just has has been something we haven't been as sharp as we need to be," said DeBoer when asked about his team's discipline. "I think we've gotten extremely better. But you know, there's still things that are happening that we've just got to continue to improve on sometimes, because I see it in practice every once in a while too…
"…Guys are just trying so hard, in some ways, to do a really good job of executing. Maybe they're frustrated about something that happened the play before, and they have to get their mind flipped to the next thing. And, you know, every guy's got their little thing that maybe has caused them to have that moment. There are moments that we can't have, that we talk about every weekend, and we would be doing that whether it was a problem or not."
While I see where DeBoer is coming from, and fully understand that these are 18-24-year-olds who have a lot of maturing in every facet of life to do, the buck stops at the top, and whether it's borderline egregious actions on the field or just bad penalties, the team hasn't shown they are properly managed.
"So, you know, there are ways that we manage that, whether it be consequences or whatever it might be, even during practice," added DeBoer. "And so we know it's an area that we will always work to improve because I think you can always get better at it, because all it takes is one guy and that can't happen. Because if we did that with every player on the team, it would never end so, we're working at it. I think there's a lot of really good guys that care a lot about the team and do a lot of really good things off the field, and even on the field and are working hard to improve that emotional discipline and awareness that we need to have in certain situations."
