Alabama's Kalen DeBoer Sets the Record Straight After Recent Backlash

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Alabama Crimson Tide fans can be a demanding bunch, which should not come as a surprise considering Alabama claims 18 national championships. The school also won six during Nick Saban's tenure between 2007 and 2003.

So when head coach Kalen DeBoer said at SEC Media Days that winning a title is not necessarily his focus, Alabama fans — and even former players — were apoplectic.

How could DeBoer not be dead set on a national championship? And how could 'Bama have a coach that apparently didn't value them?

This is what fans were thinking, and DeBoer had to set the record straight during an interview with ABC 33/40.

“The action and the work support the goals that we have to win championships here," DeBoer said. "We really walked out of the team room, and it’s really not about just getting to the conference championship; it’s about winning it. It’s not just about making the playoff; it’s winning the whole thing. We don’t talk about that much because in the end it’s about the steps and habits, the day-to-day process you’re focused on.”

So it's not that DeBoer isn't focused on winning titles; he is just more focused on the process it takes to get there, which makes complete sense.

It's one thing to walk into a room and proclaim that championships are the ultimate goal, but it doesn't mean all that much if you don't have a roadmap on how to achieve them.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with that, and DeBoer's clarification should ease the minds of rabid fans in Tuscaloosa.

Of course, until DeBoer actually brings a title to Alabama, fans aren't really going to care too much about the process; they just want to see results.

Surely, DeBoer knows that, but it doesn't seem to bother him very much. And again, as stated in the past, his personality is very different from Saban's. So you can't expect him to employ the same type of path as the former Crimson Tide coach.

DeBoer has gone 20-8 over his first couple of seasons at Alabama, leading the Tide to the Rose Bowl last season. They were hammered by Indiana, but it still represented some progress after falling to Michigan in the ReliaQuest Bowl the year prior.

We'll see if DeBoer can lead Alabama on a deeper run this coming season.

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