Kalen DeBoer message to Ty Simpson is same as the one to Alabama football run game
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Kalen DeBoer didn’t have a lot of time.
After his press conference, reflecting on Alabama football’s 28-7 loss to Georgia in the SEC Championship Game, DeBoer had a radio interview while Crimson Tide players waited on the plane. DeBoer didn’t have much of a conversation with quarterback Ty Simpson, the face of an offense that finished with 7 points and 209 yards of offense. But DeBoer didn’t feel like he needed to.
“Keep your head up,” DeBoer remembers telling Simpson. “We got this.”
DeBoer didn’t think Simpson needed any more than that.
“A couple small things can lead to big things,” DeBoer said in a teleconference after Alabama secured its College Football Playoff berth against Oklahoma. “And we don’t need to make it bigger than it is. And we’ve just got to keep chipping away.”
Simpson gets another game, one in which to respond after completing 19 of 39 pass attempts for 212 yards, a touchdown and an interception.
That message DeBoer shared was a familiar one. It’s the same approach he said he’s taking with a scuffling Alabama run game, one that flashed against Oklahoma and Auburn but struggled for -3 yards against Georgia.
It’s about persistence, DeBoer said, staying the course and addressing what needs to be addressed with Simpson, just like he feels he’s done with the run game. And with that comes an expectation.
“You do have to acknowledge and address and be truthful. … Sometimes it’s not just you, but everyone around you,” DeBoer said. “Everyone picking up their game and doing their part. That can go a long ways to a much higher level of success that I know we all expect.”
Alabama kicks off against Oklahoma at 7 p.m. CT Friday, Dec. 19, in the first round of the CFP at Gawkers Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman.
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: Kalen DeBoer message to Ty Simpson is same as the one to Alabama run game
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