Kalen DeBoer is changing one Nick Saban calling card at Alabama

For the first time since I was applying to college, Alabama assistant coaches will be allowed to speak with the media. This was a big no-no for Crimson Tide assistants under the iconic Nick Saban. He wanted his team to be united through one clear message: His own. Now that Kalen DeBoer is taking over for the greatest college football coach of all time, it will be a little bit different around Mal Moore.

This means not only will DeBoer be more open in speaking with the media, but top assistants such as offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan and co-defensive coordinators Maurice Linguist and Kane Wommack will be able to speak freely as well. Given that Sheridan has been with DeBoer for years, as well as Linguist and Wommack having just recently been Group of Five head coaches, it makes sense.

To me, this is an easy, yet absolutely massive win for DeBoer to make. By safe-guarding information, it would have made things all the more difficult to overcome if the team started to lose and the media then turned on them. By allowing the most open-door policy we have seen at Tuscaloosa since the second Bush Administration, it will go a long way in allowing the media to give DeBoer a real chance.

I mean, when ESPN's Adam Rittenberg hits you with an Antonio Banderas GIF, you know this is big!

The only way this blows up in Alabama's face is if the assistants were to turn on their head coach.

Kalen DeBoer is letting his Alabama assistants speak to the media

DeBoer's early tenure at Alabama has been met with mixed reviews. Surely, Alabama fans and college football fans at large know that he can coach. He did remarkable things previously at places like Washington, Fresno State and Sioux Falls. However, this is the SEC, and DeBoer is a total outsider. It is why he must find ways to relate to the people who cover him, as well as those who cheer on the Tide.

My favorite thing DeBoer did this offseason in taking over from Saban was adding two Group of Five head coaches to be his co-defensive coordinators in Linguist and Wommack. Yes, this resulted in letting ace recruiter Travaris Robinson go to regional rival Georgia, but having two more guys who have been in a similar situation as him could serve DeBoer in the end, especially when it gets tough.

However, letting his assistants be available to the media is not going to fix a mass exodus of talent emanating from the Crimson Tide program. Sure, Linguist, Sheridan and Wommack are now allowed to possibly opine on why that happened. Unfortunately, small talk like this only goes so far. At the end of the day, Alabama fans aren't dumb. They know what winning looks like and won't tolerate losing.

This may have been a very easy win for DeBoer to get at Alabama, but he still needs to go 10-2...