The Alabama football fan voice was notably diminished from Wednesday’s episode of “Hey Coach and the Kalen DeBoer Show” on the Crimson Tide Sports Network. The show only took one caller for DeBoer after the Tide’s Saturday loss to Tennessee, and did not take a single question from in-person attendees.
Regular first caller Peewee Roberts from Grand Bay got his question in, offensive line-related as is his habit. Besides that, “Hey Coach” host Chris Stewart asked DeBoer all of the show’s questions, with several submitted queries sprinkled in.
Alabama has been in a rough stretch recently, losing to Vanderbilt and struggling in a win against South Carolina before the Tennessee game. DeBoer fielded several pointed questions from callers before the Tide headed to Knoxville.
DeBoer had answered questions as usual from both callers and attendees at Baumhower’s Victory Grille in Tuscaloosa following the Vanderbilt loss. Nick Saban also generally answered questions as normal following losses during his tenure as Alabama’s head coach.
Appearing on the radio show is part of DeBoer’s Alabama contract. He is required to make no less than one appearance during each week of the regular season and postseason according to the contract, obtained by AL.com.
The format of the show was changed a bit this season after DeBoer took over for Saban. The broadcast moved from Thursdays to Wednesdays, and media guest were phased out in favor of Crimson Tide players.
Call-in shows such as “Hey Coach” have slowly fallen out of favor across college football through the years. Most notably, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney stopped taking live calls, after a memorable exchange with a disgruntled “Tyler from Spartanburg” last season.
Alabama returns to action on Saturday to face Missouri at Bryant-Denny Stadium. The game is scheduled to kick off at 2:45 p.m. CT and will be aired on ABC.
