It's a new flipping day in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
That's something we all conceptually understood back on Jan. 12 when the Crimson Tide hired Kalen DeBoer to replace Nick Saban, and it's something we're beginning to see for ourselves more and more with each passing day.
Wednesday was a bright, blinking example of the differences between the Saban Era and the DeBoer Domain. Not only did Alabama reveal that assistant coaches will be allowed to speak to the media more than once per calendar year, not only will media be permitted to watch certain periods of practice, the media -- or at least one non-ESPN show -- was invited in the Mal Moore Athletic Complex to sit down with Alabama coaches.
And within that, we got another example of the differences from how Alabama was run from 2007-23 to how it will be from 2024 to some undetermined point in the future.
The head coach does not cuss. Or curse. Or swear. Or whatever they flipping call it in your neck of the darn woods.
Now, I would personally place Nick Saban at a 5 or 6 on a 1-to-10 scale of over-cussing, but DeBoer is a zero.
"There's a fire, don't get me wrong," DeBoer explained in an interview with The Next Round. "There's a competitiveness that the guys see. I think they see that already in the workouts. They feel that in team meetings, the standard that exists, it's still the same standard, it's just messaged a different way.
"I just feel like you are who you are. For me, finding ways to positive reinforce -- if there's a discipline moment, that still happens. But how do you message it, how do you deliver it, how do you work together with these guys to where players understand, 'Hey, I'm fighting the same fight you are, I want the same things you want.'
"We talk about our coaches jobs are to teach, critique and demand. We're teaching, we're being critical of them, and we're demanding excellence as close to perfection as we can. (The players') jobs are to grind, refine and compete. The guys are grinding, they're refining their skills, and they're competing to be the best that they can."