“The core of our team is right here”: Kalen DeBoer praises Alabama players who decided to continue at the program following Nick Saban's retirement

Kalen DeBoer took over the toughest job in college football and has felt the heat in the early days. The former Washington Huskies coach was hired by the Alabama Crimson Tide to replace Nick Saban, who departed the program after 17 years to retire from coaching.

The first hurdle DeBoer is facing is a change revolving around the roster as a good number of players left after Saban's retirement. On “The Pat McAfee Show” on Wednesday, the coach praised players who decided to remain.

“The core of our team is right here,” DeBoer said. “They have a chip on their shoulder. They want to win that national championship. They had it right there in their grasp.

“These guys have already turned the page and moving on, and excited about what our new staff is going to do, building on what Coach Saban has done for many years here at Alabama.”

Kalen DeBoer believes his staff has done their best to keep the roster together

Ten players have made their way out of Alabama through the transfer portal since Nick Saban announced his retirement. This includes top players like safety Caleb Downs and offensive lineman Kadyn Proctor and has one way or the other affected the depth of the team.

However, Kalen DeBoer stressed the significance of maintaining the cohesion of Alabama's team as much as possible. The coach noted that the best job he and his staff have done since taking over was to ensure keeping the team's roster together.

“I think the biggest recruiting and the best recruiting we’ve done is still our current roster,” DeBoer said. “There’s not really portal guys because the portal window has closed, other than those that have coaching changes. We’ve had to recruit our own roster, and I think we’ve done a great job of that.”

The prospect of bringing offense to the SEC

Kalen DeBoer is famed for his explosive offense, which was evident during his time at Fresno State and Washington. This is what many expect him to do at Alabama, and he believes the Crimson Tide has the roster to achieve that in the more demanding Southeastern Conference.

“With the personnel we have here, there’s some amazing running backs in this program,” DeBoer said. “I’ve seen firsthand who these guys are.

“The offensive line is always a huge piece of the success and where it all starts. What we’ve done, we always tweak it here and there to fit your personnel. (Offensive coordinator) Ryan Grubb and our offensive staff, they’ll do exactly that.”

After an unsuccessful and injury-riddled tenure at Indiana, Michael Penix Jr became an established quarterback under Kalen DeBoer at Washington. Fans in Tuscaloosa are already expecting Jalen Milroe to become something better under the new coach considering his dual-threat attributes.