Alabama football coach Kalen DeBoer has been living in the south for over a year. After a season on the job, any culture shock he might have felt following a move from Seattle is now in the past.

Though, some things remain difficult.

“I think it’s probably like everyone would probably say, the heat with the humidity,” DeBoer told AL.com in an exclusive interview. “I’ve been where there’s hot. I’ve been where there’s humid. But probably heat with humidity, that’s probably the biggest one.”

DeBoer hasn’t had a problem recruiting since arriving in the SEC, as some predicted when he succeeded the retired Nick Saban. His first class at Alabama, while relying on more nationwide talent, was ranked No. 3 in the nation according to 247Sports’ composite rankings.

The Crimson Tide’s head coach has also taken to some southern culinary specialties. He shared his favorite southern food during the interview.

“I’ve gotten into the seafood a lot more here,” DeBoer said. “Just seems like the places we as a team, I guess especially recruiting events, just seems like there’s a lot of great seafood, So I’d say that’s been awesome here.”

DeBoer has been asked ad nauseum about his experience moving to the south, since he took over the Alabama job in January of 2024. When asked at SEC spring meetings in May about what surprised him the most, he said it was largely how similar things were to other places.

“I think when you move around– I’m from the Midwest. I think there’s a lot more Midwest in the South than people probably realize,” DeBoer said. “Yeah, there’s different levels of heat because there’s hot and humid, that whole thing. That’s the question I get asked the most is, ‘how do you handle the weather?’ But I think when it comes to people, I think there’s just great people everywhere.

“I’ve lived in different parts of the country, not necessarily the East Coast, but from Michigan and Indiana on over to the West Coast, you find that there are more similarities than there are differences.”

DeBoer and Alabama are set to begin his second round of preseason camp in early August. The Crimson Tide is scheduled to open the 2025 season with an Aug. 30 trip to face Florida State in Tallahassee.