What Kalen DeBoer said about JaMarcus Shephard status with Alabama football
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Kalen DeBoer said Alabama wide receivers coach JaMarcus Shephard plans to be a part of the Crimson Tide’s run to an SEC title “as much as he can” despite being named the next head coach at Oregon State.
DeBoer said Shephard “really wants to be a part of everything we do” for the SEC championship game. He said there are “a couple things early in the week” that Shephard will have to do to “get started” at Oregon State.
“We’re super excited for (it),” DeBoer said. “We celebrated it actually Friday morning. He’s a guy that pours everything into this program and he’s poured everything into me. It’s something that our players know and feel. I’ve known Shep since, really, 2014. You can’t help but be excited for someone that gets to run their own program.”
Shephard was announced as Oregon State’s next coach Friday, Nov. 28 and has his introductory press conference scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 2. He then coached on the sideline in Alabama’s 27-20 win against Auburn.
DeBoer said, after Tuesday, he expects Shephard to be with the team the rest of the week getting ready for Georgia.
According to multiple reports, Shephard will be bringing multiple Alabama staff members with him to Oregon State including associate director of player personnel Eron Hodges as his general manager, analyst Torrey Gill as his wide receivers coach and assistant quarterbacks coach Mitch Dahlen as his quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator.
Shephard followed DeBoer from Washington to Alabama after two years on his staff at Washington.
As of Nov. 30, 14 active Division 1 head coaches were once on an Alabama football coaching staff: Bill O’Brien at Boston College, Charles Kelly at Jacksonville State, Steve Sarkisian at Texas, Charles Huff at Southern Miss, Mike Locksley at Maryland, Brent Key at Georgia Tech, Mario Cristobal at Miami, Lane Kiffin at LSU, Butch Jones at Arkansas State, Dabo Swinney at Clemson, Kirby Smart at Georgia, Dan Lanning at Oregon, Curt Cignetti at Indiana and Major Applewhite at South Alabama.
Alabama will take on Georgia in the SEC championship game at 3 p.m. CT Saturday, Dec. 6.
Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at cgay@gannett.com or follow him @_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: JaMarcus Shephard to remain with Alabama football in SEC title run
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