It’s a new era for Alabama football, as longtime coach Nick Saban left the sidelines after 17 seasons with the Crimson Tide.
Taking over the top job in Tuscaloosa, Ala., is Kalen DeBoer, who most recently coached the Washington Huskies to the College Football Playoff national championship game.
DeBoer faces a tall task in filling the shoes of Saban, who won six national titles with the Crimson Tide, but there is already one place where the former Huskies coach has surpassed his predecessor: social media.
On Monday, DeBoer made a post on X, formerly Twitter, shouting out a few members of the Alabama team who had been named student-athletes of the week.
Great work gentlemen! https://t.co/9QPYpY9gRq
— Kalen DeBoer (@KalenDeBoer) February 19, 2024
While the post wasn’t all that significant on its own, Saban was famously old school when it came to social media usage, and given that Saban took over the job in 2007 when Twitter was still in its infancy, DeBoer’s tweet is the first to ever come from an active head coach of Crimson Tide football.
The moment was not lost on college football fans and observers.
This is the first ever tweet by an Alabama Football HC. https://t.co/ZlwAPxtbEh
— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) February 20, 2024
Don’t let it slip by that this is the first time ever that an Alabama head football coach wrote and posted a tweet… https://t.co/2HK6xwcnhf
— Ben Stanfield (@Ben_Stanfield) February 20, 2024
Our coach Tweets! #RollTide ##ITAWCFT https://t.co/uUcamWg8fM pic.twitter.com/LyBYAz4spt
— Sleepy Weazel 81 (Jim) 👮♂️🚔🐘🇺🇲 (@heyjimbousaf) February 20, 2024
BREAKING:
— Sidelines - Bama (@SSN_Alabama) February 19, 2024
An Alabama head coach has just sent a tweet for the first time ever. https://t.co/BS1jQ2WxuO
First time an Alabama Football HC has ever tweeted https://t.co/7Mf4zG6tMw pic.twitter.com/njeGvGeU96
— Micah (@MicahLangston_) February 19, 2024
It’s going to take a while to get used to Bama’s head coach tweeting. https://t.co/juzKDu09KQ
— Cody Raulston 🐘 (@NoogaBammer) February 19, 2024
DeBoer will have to do a lot more than tweet to win the hearts of Alabama fans, who have grown accustomed to championship seasons year after year, but it’s impressive that he’s already creating his own path in at least one, albeit small, facet of the job before a snap has been played this year.
