Alabama’s Kalen DeBoer won’t imitate LSU’s Brian Kelly and adopt fake southern accent

Since he was hired as Alabama’s new football coach earlier this month, questions have swirled around Kalen DeBoer and whether the born-and-bred South Dakotan who has never coached farther south than Fresno, California can successfully acclimate to the ruthlessly competitive world of the SEC.

As DeBoer works to quell those doubts, he won’t be doing so with a newfound southern accent.

In an appearance Wednesday on “The Pat McAfee Show” on ESPN, the Crimson Tide coach was asked if he might change his accent in a similar way to LSU coach Brian Kelly, who infamously spoke at a Tigers men’s basketball game the day he was introduced as the school’s new football coach with a hilariously thick and outrageously contrived drawl.

With a laugh, DeBoer shot that possibility down.

DEBOER: Explains decision to leave Washington on ‘The Pat McAfee Show’

The University of Alabama introduced new head football coach Kalen DeBoer with a press conference at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Nicole and Kalen DeBoer hold up an Alabama jersey after the press conference.

“I think that would go wrong for me,” DeBoer said. “I know who I am. There’s some South Dakota in there. That’s who I am. We’ve just got to live with that. You got me for who I am.”

Kelly, who grew up in the Boston area and spent his entire coaching career in New England and the Midwest, was mocked for his December 2021 address to LSU fans for speaking with a little more molasses in his voice than usual. Much of the criticism and humor came from his pronunciation of the word ‘family.’

Kelly joked about it a month later while stopping in the ESPN booth during its broadcast of LSU’s appearance in the Texas Bowl.

As he works to try to replace legendary outgoing Alabama coach Nick Saban, DeBoer won’t be trying anything similar, though McAfee, the show’s eponymous…


Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/alabamas-kalen-deboer-wont-imitate-201737307.html

Author : USA TODAY Sports

Publish date : 2024-01-24 20:17:37

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.

Check Also

TV, kickoff time set for SEC championship game

Jul 16, 2024; Dallas, TX, USA; The SEC National Championship trophy at Omni Dallas Hotel. …