Over an hour until Kalen DeBoer’s plane was supposed to arrive in Alabama, the parking lot was filling up at Tuscaloosa National Airport. Separated from the tarmac by a barbed-wire fence, Crimson Tide fans gathered, ready to see Nick Saban’s successor make his first steps onto Yellowhammer State soil since his hiring announcement.
At 7:15 p.m. CT, Apple Weather claimed it was 50 degrees outside. Apple Weather was wrong, it was cold and getting colder, with wind whipping across the assembled crowd throughout the evening’s events.
One fan showed up wearing shorts and a pair of Chacos sandals. Most of the others were in their warmest Crimson Tide apparel or Carhartt hoodies.
ALA-BAMA, ALA-BAMA, rang through the hastily assembling crowd.
Children ran around with signs showing their support of the Tide. Some fans set up lawn chairs as they awaited the man who led Washington to the national title game just a few days ago. Now, this same man is tasked with continuing perhaps the sport’s greatest dynasty.
Some tracked the flight. The jet, tail number N54HA drew nearer.
DeBoer was in Arkansas, then around Memphis, then over Oxford, drawing jokes about Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin.
Coach is now in Alabama airspace, one man in a crimson quarter-zip shouted, looking up from his phone to point into the air.
After 8 p.m., Alabama athletics director Greg Byrne arrived. Flanked by his wife Regina, he greeted the fans along the fence, offering fist bumps to the front row.
We appreciate y’all, Bryne said. Roll Tide.
One fan had brought a Bluetooth speaker and played music. Selections included the Rammer Jammer Cheer, Free Bird, Sweet Home Alabama and a singalong edition of Dixieland Delight.
With a few exceptions, most of the Crimson Tide faithful refrained from the profane part of the song’s colloquial chant. That wasn’t the case later on, when the crowd did the song acapella in the final minutes before DeBoer’s plane came down.
As it neared 8:30 p.m., fans were getting antsy. Cell service wasn’t working well, so even the ones who were dedicated to tracking the plane weren’t much help.
On the tarmac, police and drivers readied themselves for the motorcade that would eventually take DeBoer away. Then the plane came into sight.
At 8:37 p.m., DeBoer landed. It took a moment to taxi to where the fans and motorcade were waiting, too long for one fan.
Get him over here, came the yell. Jesus Christ.
Byrne boarded the plane. Shortly thereafter, out came DeBoer and his family.
There he was, in a gray quarter-zip, on his way to take a job with the highest expectations in the country. Things can go south for coaches fast at Alabama, but the Tide fans braving the cold showed no doubt that DeBoer was the man for the moment, delivering huge cheers when he stepped down.
There was no unsolicited kiss waiting for Saban’s successor. Just the fans, freezing by the fence, which DeBoer walked down, high fiving many hands and one camera through the barbed wire.
All the while, Alabama’s players were waiting for him at Mal Moore Athletics Facility, where a team meeting had been scheduled. There were fans there too, many of whom would stand by the door, chanting for DeBoer until after 11 p.m.
DeBoer had somewhere to be, with one fan imploring him to convince safety Caleb Downs to stick around for another year with the Crimson Tide. After a huddle, the group headed for the cars, with the coach and family jumping into a black Mercedes SUV with Byrne at the wheel.
The police escort started rolling and the vehicle carrying the man now responsible for the state’s largest point of pride followed. Time to get to work.
