When Alabama football fans saw Kalen DeBoer after the Crimson Tide suffered its first loss to Vanderbilt since 1984, the first-year head coach seemed calm and collected. While that’s DeBoer’s standard operating procedure, win or lose, some would have preferred to see more emotion from UA’s leader.

Speaking to reporters Monday, DeBoer made clear how bothered he was by the defeat.

“I’m extremely frustrated,” DeBoer said. “We all are. But we’re not gonna lose our cool over that. We understand what happened, and a lot of what I see in the response even in the locker room – I guess are you talking like the press conference afterward or something? Because that’s really the only time you could have seen me, I guess.

“I think that’s me seeing what already is happening in 30 minutes, 20 minutes after the game’s over. And I saw extreme frustration. I saw guys wanting to stick together, wanting to still do something special, believing in each other, expressing that.”

DeBoer’s tonal shift from Nick Saban is pronounced. Other than a few outbursts on the field when he disagrees with the referees, he generally keeps emotions in check, especially in front of reporters.

“I had my part in there, too, where we understood what happened and that it’s not up to our standard and how we had to proceed forward,” DeBoer said. “And so yeah, we were all extremely frustrated. But we aren’t gonna sit and lose our cool because I don’t think that’s the right way to go about it. There’s a time and place for everything.”

Next up for Alabama, a chance to rebound against South Carolina at Bryant-Denny Stadium. The Crimson Tide slipped in the poll rankings, down to No. 7 in the nation, but isn’t out of the hunt for a 12-team College Football playoff.

According to DeBoer, his team is steeling itself for a late push.

“We’re still early in the season,” DeBoer said. “We left ourselves a little less wiggle room to achieve some of the goals we have, but those goals are still out there. And we need to just focus on what our whole mindset is, is to always improve every single day. And that’s never gonna change. And to improve, I think you’ve gotta have things in perspective and focus on the right areas, and our whole team is doing that.”

Alabama and South Carolina are schedule to kick off at 11 a.m. CT Saturday in Tuscaloosa. The game will be aired on ABC.