DeBoer’s new offensive line coach says Alabama is ‘best place in country’

The countdown is officially on with the Alabama Crimson Tide just days away from kicking off the beginning of a new era of football in Tuscaloosa under new head coach Kalen DeBoer.

After briefly hiring Scott Huff as the team’s offensive line coach, DeBoer lost Huff to the NFL when offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb was named in the same position with the Seattle Seahawks, taking Huff and some other staffers with him.

In what looked like a difficult situation, DeBoer hired Chris Kapilovic, a well-respected offensive line coach who had just arrived to Baylor from Michigan State and was only there for three months before DeBoer came calling.

During media availability on Wednesday, Kapilovic talked about what made him so comfortable leaving a job he had just arrived to when Alabama wanted to hire him.

“Sometimes I sit there and think to myself, ‘I’m here at Alabama. This is the best place in the country, there’s nothing better.” @AlabamaFTBL’s @CoachCKap pic.twitter.com/z4cUoVrvec

— The Next Round (@NextRoundLive) August 28, 2024

“You go through a tumultuous year was all kinds of issues,” Kapilovic said on his final season with the Spartans. “You finally pick your next place that’s best for you and your family, you get in there, get your kid in school right away, you buy a house, then all of the sudden two weeks later you get the call from Alabama. To my wife and son’s credit, they looked at me and said ‘It’s Alabama, we’re ready to go.’ That made it much better and easier for me…Sometimes I sit there and think to myself, ‘I’m here at Alabama. This is the best place in the country, there’s nothing better.’ So it’s pretty cool.”

Kapilovic will have one of the most talented offensive lines in the nation to work with as he tries to gel the unit together and get them ready for what will be a gauntlet of an SEC schedule.

Regardless of how hard the season will be, however, Kapilovic is just happy to be in Tuscaloosa.