"It's really cool" - Kalen DeBoer reflects on Alabama players' offsite bonding while traveling to different parts of the country
Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer has heaped praise on his team's bonding even after the end of formal practices. Alabama finished its main practices after the spring game, but many of the program's leaders have continued their workouts in private groups across the country.
Speaking to WJOX, DeBoer said:
"I've seen that done before with other teams I've been the head coach at, even a coordinator, and those are moments where, not only are they getting better as football players, but they're coming together as a team and they're respecting the work that each other has put in."
DeBoer also appreciated the program's leaders for discussing their plans:
"The more and more the leaders are sharing what their plans are, it's really cool. And they're doing a great job coordinating that."
Apart from putting in 100% during the team's official practice sessions, players must constantly work to improve their game. One of the best ways to do this is through private workouts.
For Kalen DeBoer's team, this had meant that a large number of players have decided to come together and train not on the Tuscaloosa campus but in many different locations around the country.
"There's groups of 20-plus to maybe even 30 that are doing training off-site together at different places on their own, and going to different parts of the country and working, putting in the work," he said.
These workouts are a way to bring a team together. But how successful these workouts are will only be found out when the Alabama Crimson Tide and new head coach Kalen DeBoer begin their season in late August.
What awaits Kalen DeBoer and the Alabama Crimson Tide in the next few months
The players will return to Tuscaloosa from their respective workouts at the end of May. This is when the players who have transferred to the Alabama program during the spring opening of the transfer portal will enroll with the university.
This will be followed by whole team practices, led by coach DeBoer in preparation for the Crimson Tide's upcoming season. Alabama will hope that all of the practices and workouts that the players have done will pay off, as the outfit aims to retain the SEC Championship they won last season.
It will be easier said than done, as many of their divisional rivals, notably the Georgia Bulldogs and new SEC arrivals the Texas Longhorns, are in strong form and will want to take the title for themselves.
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