Saban & DeBoer Team Up for a Feel-Good Mission
When Nick Saban retired from coaching in early 2024, college football braced for a seismic shift. Few imagined that his next chapter would be written alongside Kalen DeBoer, the man who succeeded him at Alabama. But in an unexpected and heartwarming twist, the two titans of the sport have joined forces—not on the gridiron, but in communities across America.
Their mission? To revitalize youth sports in underserved areas.
The initiative, called “Gridiron Roots,” was launched in the spring of 2025. Funded by a joint endowment from the Saban Foundation and DeBoer’s new nonprofit, Rise & Run, the program seeks to rebuild dilapidated sports facilities, provide free coaching clinics, and distribute gear to thousands of kids who otherwise couldn’t afford to play.
The spark came during a quiet dinner in Tuscaloosa in December 2024, just days after Alabama’s playoff loss. Saban, newly retired but restless, invited DeBoer for what was meant to be a passing of the torch. Instead, it turned into a brainstorm session that lasted past midnight.
“We both realized the game had given us everything,” DeBoer later recalled at the launch event in Birmingham. “But we also realized it wasn’t reaching everyone the way it should.”
Saban, known for his laser focus and iron discipline, found a new kind of energy in the mission. DeBoer, with his player-first philosophy and unshakable optimism, brought fresh ideas and a deep understanding of modern athlete development.
Their first target was Clarksdale, Mississippi—a football-rich town that had lost three high school programs due to budget cuts. Within six months, Gridiron Roots rebuilt a turf field, partnered with local schools for year-round training, and brought in former Alabama and Washington players to mentor.
The impact was immediate. Enrollment in youth sports rose by 46%. One of the area’s youth teams, the Clarksdale Wildcats, went undefeated for the first time in 12 years. Parents spoke emotionally at town halls about how the program kept their kids off the streets and in classrooms.
And Saban and DeBoer were not just figureheads. They traveled to each site personally. At a May clinic in Detroit, Saban was seen teaching footwork to eight-year-olds in the rain while DeBoer diagrammed plays on a whiteboard for middle school quarterbacks.
“Coach Saban made me run my drill four times ‘til I got it right,” said Malik Thompson, age 10. “He told me, ‘You don’t get better by getting it easy.’ I’ll never forget that.”
The two men, once mentor and protégé, now stand side by side as partners in purpose. Though their coaching legacies are firmly cemented, both say this work may become their most meaningful.
“It’s not about championships anymore,” Saban said during an ESPN special. “It’s about changing lives. Football is just the tool.”
As Gridiron Roots expands to Chicago, New Orleans, and the Navajo Nation, the partnership between Saban and DeBoer is proving that when two of football’s brightest minds aim beyond the scoreboard, the result is something far greater than wins—it’s hope.
