Greg McElroy prefaced his Kalen DeBoer comments on the SEC Network by saying he was putting on his figurative Houndstooth visor.

“I’m really proud he’s our head coach,” the former Alabama quarterback-turned college football analyst said Wednesday. “I really mean that. I think he represents the program in the right way. He knows exactly the messaging he wants to get across. I’m just proud he’s our guy.”

McElroy made the comments during the network’s coverage of DeBoer and the Crimson Tide at SEC Media Days in Atlanta.

“He’s the right guy for the job,” he added. “I’m so happy for him.”

With that out of the way, McElroy – back in analyst mode – believed the second-year head coach hit a home run with his time at the podium.

“What I loved most is that he deliberately went out of his way to address the shortcomings of 2024,” McElroy explained. “No one at this point is really talking that much about 2024. We’re kind of moving on, spinning it forward, looking ahead. …

He said, “Look, we didn’t play well on the road. We did not do a good job on third-down defense early in the season. We didn’t do a good job, at times, of adjusting to hostile environments. He said, ‘These are the things we didn’t do well.’

“There is no blind spot there. It is out there. It is clearly a priority for this organization to look at what they did wrong and make sure it doesn’t get them again.

“That’s what great coaches do. They see the problem, and they fix it.”

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.