Alabama HC Kalen DeBoer is sending a clear message to his team to make sure the Crimson Tide takes care of Vanderbilt
Kalen DeBoer has a chance to make a lot of things right this weekend in Tuscaloosa. The Alabama Crimson Tide is back where they belong, atop the college football rankings after beating the Georgia Bulldogs. But that was the case last year. Everything was on the up before the biggest upset in recent college football […]
Kalen DeBoer has a chance to make a lot of things right this weekend in Tuscaloosa. The Alabama Crimson Tide is back where they belong, atop the college football rankings after beating the Georgia Bulldogs.
But that was the case last year. Everything was on the up before the biggest upset in recent college football history went down. And now, the Tide gets Vandy on their turf, with College GameDay coming to town.
So how does Kalen DeBoer counter the need to make sure the upset doesn’t happen again, yet have his team singularly focused going forward? By using a 1-0 mantra.
Kalen DeBoer is using 1-0 mantra vs. Vanderbilt
“I think everything you do is about learning, and everything you’ve been through together is about taking what you’ve been through, taking what you see from other people, and applying it to be the best you can be,” said DeBoer on Wednesday. “And we use the 1-0 mantra a lot, and it’s about moving forward. When you make mistakes, you own it, you accept it. I think our guys have done a great job of balancing having an edge by learning from [their mistakes].”
If you remember back to the game last year, it wasn’t the offense that was at fault. It held up its end of the bargain, scoring 35 points and keeping the team in the game. The problem was the defense. It let Diego Pavia (who is still talking by the way) drop 40 and escape with the win.
On top of that, however, questions about the effort, mental makeup, and intensity of the team were frequently questioned from that game on.
DeBoer says those questions are behind the Tide.
“I’m proud of the way the guys have responded,” said DeBoer in response to the team’s prep this week. “I knew they cared. Just needed to really make sure that everyone’s headed the same direction and has the right mindset going each every week, so we can execute at a high level.”
Last year was a wake-up call. Alabama let Vandy sneak up on it. This year, it knows who’s coming to town. It has a large sample size, and the Commodores are undefeated. That means it’s about enforcing will, treating this game like it did last week’s in Athens. Alabama looks to be healthy heading in, though the controversial loss of James Smith could loom large.
It’s on DeBoer to make sure none of that matters. No excuses, just win.
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