Nick Saban praises Kalen DeBoer's Alabama culture, but has one unanswerable question

SEC Media Days is somewhat like a referendum on the head coaches. Judging them by what they say more than what they do is unfair. Most unfair is when the words of the two most recent Alabama football coaches are contrasted.

Nick Saban is so fluent when talking about college football that he can be compared to a talented writer labelled a wordsmith. Kalen DeBoer is not inarticulate, but fluency is not one of his skills.

After DeBoer spoke and answered questions on Wednesday morning, the SEC Media Days broadcast went to Nick Saban. Talking about Alabama in the coming season, Saban was, as always, precise. DeBoer had talked about the culture of his third Alabama football team and it being essential to success. Saban probably still knows more about championship culture than anyone. He made two comments that stand out.

Nick Saban on Alabama Football Culture

From 247Sports, "What kind of culture are you going to be able to create when it comes to intangibles, toughness, sustaining a high level of success that you need to be able to get through this conference. I think Kalen has done a really, really good job of trying to build that culture, but you never know how 50 new players are going to respond to it ..."

Of course, Saban was correct, but three words summed up where Alabama is with Kalen DeBoer: "you never know." Alabama could become a 10-2 (or better) playoff team, or the Crimson Tide could go 8-4 and play in a meaningless bowl game.

Saban also talked about ingredients for success: "discipline, toughness, people giving effort, being able to overcome adversity – a lot of things that great competitors have to be able to do – that never changes."

Saban added that he felt some coaches have "compromised the culture" needed for success. Kalen DeBoer is not one of those coaches. DeBoer's manner of speaking may not wow, but don't mistake that for a lack of determination. He is resolute. When DeBoer talks about resiliency and toughness, as he did Wednesday morning, he is not spinning empty words.

DeBoer is also not a guy who will boast about future success. He knows such talk has never won a football game. Again, he is no Nick Saban, but that does not mean he will not succeed at Alabama. He, his staff, and the program would all be best served if Alabama fans would keep comparing him to Nick Saban.

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This article was originally published on bamahammer.com as Nick Saban praises Kalen DeBoer's Alabama culture, but has one unanswerable question .