Matt Caddell was on a conference call with colleagues on Wednesday, Jan. 10. He briefly checked his phone and saw ESPN’s Chris Low’s tweet that Alabama head football coach Nick Saban was stunningly retiring after 17 seasons. Low had just broken the news that shifted the college football world on its axis. Two days later, the Crimson Tide hired Washington’s Kalen DeBoer to take over.
“It kinda came out of nowhere,” Caddell said. “I was still on the call, and the next thing you know, about 20 seconds later, one of my colleagues said ‘Big news, Nick Saban retired.’ This news just shocked the whole entire world.”
Caddell was a wide receiver for the Crimson Tide the last time the football program experienced a coaching change, during the 2006-07 offseason. He was going into his senior season when Saban was hired to replace Mike Shula. It was a different time, more than a decade before the transfer portal, and he never had any thoughts about leaving. Instead, regardless of what happened with the changes, he was going to stick with it. He helped author one of the first memorable moments of the Saban era with a game-winning touchdown catch against reigning division champion Arkansas.
“It was a different age,” he said. “You’re along for the journey, no matter how tough the times got, but the NCAA has new rules … I still think there needs to be some type of commitment from the collegiate athlete to a program.”
Saban has said on multiple occasions that one of his hopes for players in his program was for them to be successful after football, and Caddell specifically mentioned the importance of helping student-athletes be better people down the line in life.
He describes Saban’s first year with the program as intense, but necessary to instill his foundation in Tuscaloosa and bring a championship mindset back to Alabama football. “It was much needed,” said Caddell. “It was a lot of challenges, a lot of intensity, being pushed to new heights mentally, psychologically as well as physically.”
Players who embraced that had success, even though it was unlike anything they had ever seen: it was more demanding and more detail-oriented in the name of bringing out the best in both individual and team.
Caddell grew, first and foremost, in confidence during that 2007 season. He attributes that to the rigor of practices and games.
“He [Saban] expects the best, so you can’t help but feel confident going out there and performing,” he said. “You can’t help but perform at a high level.”
He also drew on the energy within the Crimson Tide fanbase, which was on display from the moment Saban arrived at the airport in Tuscaloosa. That was a moment Caddell described as a breath of fresh air to get Alabama back to winning titles.
His first time experiencing a Saban-led practice was intensity personified, no wasted time or motion, fighting for every inch and every second and nobody sitting on the sidelines not doing anything. It was a hot day- “It felt like 117 degrees outside,” Caddell recalled. Then-teammate Eryk Anders agreed with the sentiment that it was all systems go. “With Saban, it was like six plays in one,” said Anders. “You had to be an athlete, but you had to have the mental aspect of it, too.”
“There was a method to the madness,” Caddell said. “I just remember coming off the field, like, that was probably the hardest thing that we had to deal with from a practice standpoint. And that’s when I knew how intense, how there’s a method to Coach Saban’s madness, just from his practices alone. That’s when I knew, ‘Yeah, Bama’s gonna be winning a championship here soon.’ That first practice, there was a method to his madness. That’s what makes him so successful. That’s why so many other coaches copy his practice program, everything, his format. I believe that’s the standard.” It didn't take long for the championship thought to come to pass. Caddell called it gratifying to witness the 2009 team's title, and he'll never forget coming back to visit the coaches after the fact and hearing that his group had helped set the foundation for that success.
Alabama’s current wide receiver room has also undergone something of a reset. The program lost Jermaine Burton to the NFL draft, and Iron Bowl hero Isaiah Bond transferred to Texas. Those were two big names that had a lot of chemistry with quarterback Jalen Milroe. Caddell suggests that the best thing for those who are where he once was to do is to push one another and compete, whether it be with opposing defenses or even themselves.
“Iron sharpens iron, so one thing I think they can do to improve is hold each other accountable,” he said. “That’s what we would do. I would be around [Tyrone] Prothro, DJ Hall, Keith Brown, so many guys. That’s how our wide receiver room was. You look at guys like [Jerry] Jeudy, [Jaylen] Waddle… They held each other accountable. That would be my main advice to the young receiver room.” Chemistry with other members of the locker room, including more than just fellow receivers, is important. In Caddell’s mind, one of the keys to football is being able to rely on one’s teammates and the camaraderie and brotherhood shared therein.
“One thing about football, to me, I think it’s the greatest sport there is. It teaches about team,” he said. “I think the more time you can spend together… it’s just gonna help intensify or improve that camaraderie and that brotherhood. I always feel like the closer the teams, the better the teams perform throughout a season. Having those different types of relationships that will last a lifetime, all that does is just make you so much better as a team and an individual.”
As is commonplace within major transition periods, there has been much talk and speculation as to how Alabama football may progress without Saban at the helm for the first time in close to two decades. The landscape of the sport has changed so much, with what Saban achieved in Tuscaloosa having been a driving force of some of those changes. Caddell has high expectations and optimism for the 2024 season, and expects to see the fanbase turn out strong, much as it did in support of Saban during the initial phases of his stint as head coach.
“One thing about Alabama fans, they love Alabama football,” Caddell said. “I never thought I would experience to see 92,000 [fans] at a spring game [in 2007]. Just the support you’ve always had because it’s Alabama, it’s Alabama football. Even throughout the highs and lows, it [the fan support] was just special to see. To me, that’s what makes Alabama a special place compared to other universities.”
Once the book closed on Saban’s first season, as well as Caddell’s college career, the experienced wideout had learned about what it took to be the best, no matter how big or small one’s role. He wouldn’t change his time for anything, and went so far as to say he’d love to come back and play for DeBoer and his new staff in 2024 if he were able. “Coach Saban has already put the blueprint there,” he said, emphasizing the additional importance of Saban’s continued presence around the program. Caddell also foresees a motivated group that has heard the doubters and seeks to prove them wrong, whether it be skeptical fans, pundits or former teammates.
“The veterans on the team probably have a little bit of disappointment from not winning the national championship, and then not knowing that it was gonna be Coach Saban’s last season, so I’m quite sure they have that built in,” he said. “People have written them [off], saying, ‘They’re not gonna be good, Alabama’s not gonna be good, their team’s not gonna be good.’ I think the LANK mentality has gone to new heights this year. Now they’ve got Coach DeBoer, his staff, his team. I think they’re gonna be really focused on being dominant… I think this team has so many mental, internal motivations to prove people wrong this year. I think it’s gonna be dominant. Next thing you know, you might look up and see that Bama still is Bama.”
The new 12-team College Football Playoff format has introduced another change to college football: campus-site playoff games. If there is a postseason matchup contested inside Bryant-Denny Stadium, Caddell can be expected to be in attendance. “That would be nuts,” he said. “That could go so many different ways… Most definitely, I will be there."
This is the second story in a multi-part BamaCentral series looking back at Alabama’s coaching transition in 2007 as the Crimson Tide prepares for a new head coach in 2024 with Kalen DeBoer.
First story: What It’s Like When Alabama Football Gets a New Head Coach
WILL MILLER
Will Miller is a senior at the University of Alabama. He has experience covering a wide array of Crimson Tide sports, including football, baseball, basketball, gymnastics and soccer. He joined BamaCentral in the spring of 2023 and is also a freelance UFC interviewer.
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