Nick Saban believes Alabama has the right man. It’s just going to be a tough transition for Kalen DeBoer.

The “GameDay” analyst joined “The Pat McAfee Show” on Friday and was asked to gauge the temperature in Tuscaloosa after a loss to Vanderbilt and a too-close-for-comfort win against South Carolina.

“Anytime you take over a successful program, I don’t want to be judgmental about what they do, because I think he has to do what he does his way,” Saban said Friday. “You know, he can’t be me, can’t try to be somebody that he isn’t. I think there’s more than one way to skin a cat, and I actually think the guy’s been successful, and I think his way will work.

“I just think it’s adjustment for a lot of the fans and the people, but I think he’ll win them over, because he’s a good guy and he’s a good coach. He’s got a good system and a good organization, and I’m just trying to be supportive and helpful any way that I can, so he can make a smooth transition.”

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Saban, 72, pointed to early in his career where the shoe was on the other foot.

“I think that anytime you have a successful coach — I felt that a little bit when I was coach at Michigan State, because George Perles had won the Big Ten Championship there. Of course, I was on his staff, you know, back then as defensive coordinator, and (he) had a lot of people who really believed in, you know, what he did, the discipline, the culture that he created and all that. So when I went there, I was expected to do things almost exactly like he did them because I had been on the staff.

“But yet, through the years, I’ve learned some other ways to do things because of being with (Bill) Belichick and, you know, some people like that. So sometimes I felt a little like, ‘Why aren’t you doing it a certain way?’ But I do think that this is a tough transition for Kalen.”

Mark Heim is a reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim. He can be heard on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5 FM in Mobile or on the free Sound of Mobile App from 6 to 9 a.m. daily.