Kalen DeBoer on Alabama possibly playing overseas game: ‘I think there’s the right time’
College football grows every day. In the past few seasons, teams have traveled to Ireland, the Bahamas and, even, China to put on a show. On Thursday, Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer revealed if Alabama has any plans to play overseas.
“I think there’s a right time,” DeBoer said. “When you’ve been in a program for a while and you want to continue to expand things like that, I’ve looked into those at different times in different places.
“I think it’s going to be tough first year or two to do something like that, but there’s just more and more things you want to put in front of these guys and experiences you want to give them, so I think that’s pretty cool.”
To open the 2023 campaign, Georgia Tech and Florida State will square off in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic. It’s the third-straight season two teams have held a Week 0 showdown in Ireland.
Although several blue chip programs such as Notre Dame and Florida State have now taken the leap across the pond, no SEC team has followed suit. With Alabama’s history of innovation, fans naturally wonder if the Crimson Tide will be the first SEC program to go international.
Evidently, DeBoer is in no rush. The same can’t be said for every SEC coach. At the 2024 SEC Media Days, LSU head coach Brian Kelly revealed he hopes his program can play a game in the Emerald Isle in the near future.
“We’ve done such a great job with the LSU brand throughout the country, I think the next step for us is international,” Kelly said. “I felt the travel there is so clean and easy. Ireland has been such a great destination for other football programs to go and play.”
Kalen DeBoer is focused on the 2024 schedule
Of course, next season’s schedule isn’t currently at the top of SEC coaches’ minds, especially DeBoer’s. With Georgia, LSU, Tennessee and Oklahoma each on the schedule, Alabama won’t have a moment to rest in the 2024 campaign.
The pressure is high in DeBoer’s first season at the helm of the Crimson Tide. However, he wouldn’t want it any other way.
“I always kind of term it – it’s maybe a little bit too simple, but not having expectations, that isn’t fun to be a part of,” DeBoer said earlier this month. “It’s fun to see the turnarounds. I’ve been a part of that, too.
“Growing culture and what it looks like from maybe not a good culture to one that’s a championship-caliber culture. I certainly have felt that, and it’s been great. I’d much rather be a part of something that has a lot of expectations.”
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