TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — University of Alabama football fans hungry for a return to national title contention filled Bryant-Denny Stadium for Nick Saban's first spring game.
Kalen DeBoer stepped into a much different situation 17 years later. The former Washington Huskies coach wrapped up his first spring with the Crimson Tide on Saturday just a few months into the task of trying to maintain the juggernaut Saban built — with DeBoer doing so while navigating a very different world of name, image and likeness compensation and the NCAA transfer portal.
His unofficial debut at Bryant-Denny drew an announced crowd of 72,358 for A-Day game, nearly 2,000 more than Husky Stadium's capacity at Washington. If the scrimmage was not a true gauge of how Alabama will look in DeBoer's first season, the turnout illustrates the level of interest — and perhaps curiosity and anxiety.
"Saban's the type of guy, he built something," said season-ticket holder Todd Eddleman, a 58-year-old from Cullman who also was at Saban's first spring game. "He doesn't want to see it lose either. He's proud of what he built. This guy right here, he can keep it up there, there's no doubt in my mind. I think he's a great recruiter and coach. I think he's done a fabulous job, and that's not an easy thing to do.
"I think his response will be the same as Saban: When Saban was here and 100,000 showed up, he looked at his assistant coaches and said, 'I think we came to the right spot.'"
Saban's first A-Day scrimmage in 2007 drew 92,138 fans — a capacity crowd at the time — but he joined a program enduring a 15-year national title drought and came with a championship of his own on the resumé from his time at LSU, another Southeastern Conference school. He was on hand for the scrimmage Saturday and addressed the team beforehand.
DeBoer, who led Washington to the national championship game in just his second year, said it was his first taste of "feeling the energy and the excitement of what it would be on a Saturday" during the season.
"That was a lot of fun," said DeBoer, who noted he told the players to "enjoy this moment," especially the ones who, like himself, were in their first action in front of Tide fans.
"I made sure that they relished this day," DeBoer said. "When you say those things, you do it yourself as well."
DeBoer takes over a program that won six national championships during Saban's 17-year tenure and was in contention far more often than not. Saban's final Alabama team reached the final four-team College Football Playoff — it expands to 12 participants this year — and lost a Rose Bowl semifinal to Michigan, which beat DeBoer's Huskies to win the title.
There was some restlessness among the fan base even before Saban's retirement in January because the Tide haven't won it all since 2020, and now Alabama is hoping DeBoer can maintain what Saban established, or something close to it.
"We have to trust the process, because everything's so different right now," incumbent starting quarterback Jalen Milroe said. "But we still have goals as a program. The standard is the standard, and we all go back to that as a group. We're all behind Coach DeBoer, we're all confident in him. And we're just passionate. We're passionate to play for our family, passionate to play for the state of Alabama, passionate to play for Coach DeBoer and our coaching staff."
And the fans are similarly passionate.
Tuscaloosa's Mike Lowe came to his first spring game in about 10 years, saying he felt a mixture of anxiety and optimism.
"This is something we wanted to see for our own self," said Lowe, 66. "I think he'll do good."
But, he added: "You can't replace Nick Saban."
The new regime had to deal with defections through the transfer portal, losing safety Caleb Downs and highly touted freshman quarterback Julian Sayin to Ohio State and leading receiver Isaiah Bond to Texas, among others. Left tackle Kadyn Proctor transferred to Iowa but could be on his way back after leaving that program.
DeBoer intends to mine the portal for at least another defensive back and an offensive lineman.
In the meantime, longtime fan Josh Canaday gives him an "A-plus" for holding the team and the recruiting class together.
"I can't imagine having a guy that I'm saying, 'I think he can keep it going after Saban,'" said Canaday, who made the trip from Cullman with Eddleman. "I think this guy can."