Dear Kalen DeBoer ,
They say it just means more here, and I'd say they're right, except that they're grossly understating the magnitude of college football in the South.
It doesn't just mean more here. It means everything .
Your initiation to SEC football begins Saturday. Prepare for your life to change.
This conference can make you a legend or recast you as a fool.
You clearly require no education on football X's and O's. Heck, you've won everywhere you've been.
But wherever you've been doesn't have Georgia, LSU and Tennessee as opponents, and wherever you've been, the people don't pin their hopes, dreams and entire sense of self-worth to what happens in the span of three hours on fall Saturdays.
Wherever you've been, fans don't commit felonies after losses.
Here, they do .
Wherever you've been, a win was a win, not the pinnacle of life.
Here, it is .
Wherever you've been, a loss was a loss, not life and death.
Here, it is .
Marino Casem , a born and raised Southerner who coached at a few schools down this way, once said this about college football in the South:
"In the South, football is a religion, and Saturday is the holy day."
Service begins at 6:30 Saturday night in Tuscaloosa, and 100,000 members of your flock will be there waving crimson and white pompoms, singing Lynyrd Skynyrd and expecting you to officially baptize this new era of Alabama football .
Look, you crushed it these past eight months since becoming Alabama 's coach. Bravo.
You knew just how to win over Alabama fans. First, you paid respect to the greats, showing humility and honor to be working in the shadow of legends. Rather than bristle at the idea of Nick Saban being strapped into a golden parachute and retaining a presence on campus, you embraced it . And importantly, you showed that Alabama will remain a standard-setter on the recruiting trail.
You also won over your roster. You're a gulp of fresh air to a team that had been used to a different coaching style, shall we say.
You've been a Script A-plus, and you've probably noticed that Alabama fans dine from your palm, but don't get too comfortable. It takes just one wayward Saturday, one horrifying performance, for devotees to turn heel and bite the hand that fed them.
I hope you enjoyed the honeymoon. Now, it's finished. The first test of this marriage arrives Saturday.
There's a mean machine in red and black rumbling down the tracks all the way from Athens, and these Dawgs aren't just coming to beat you. They're coming to wreck the spirits of an entire state.
You came here because a challenge doesn't scare you. Well, that's dandy, because even by the SEC's standards, this counts as a mammoth challenge.
You'll be expected to win anyway. That's what you signed up for.
Where you came from, you received a trophy with an apple on it for beating a rival. How cute.
You'll enjoy a chance to play for the Iron Bowl Trophy later this season, but the real prize of winning an SEC game is the exhale of tension after the clock strikes 0:00, that respite of sweet relief, and the knowledge that you kept the wolves at bay for another week.
I remember the first time my parents attended an SEC game. They were a little shocked by the crowd. You see, they're from the Midwest, like you, and they were taken aback when a fan behind them repeatedly yelled, "Kill 'em! Kill 'em!" while the opponent snapped each play.
I told my folks they should feel fortunate they were seated next to what sounded like the SEC's version of a reasonable fan acting on their best behavior, and not a Finebaum caller.
At least no one poisoned any trees on that particular night.
If you win here, they'll give you the world.
Well, close to it, anyway.
They'll give you millions, build you a statue and treat you with more respect than any king. They'll even name hallowed ground — the football field — after you.
And if you lose? Well, they'll still give you millions, but you'll become a pariah, a carpetbagging interloper from South Dakota who squandered the greatest opportunity of his life. Leave, and never come back.
I'd wish you luck on your quest, but you don't need luck. You just need to win.
And when the next SEC opponent arrives, win again.
They only thing they'll expect from you is unflinching success, and when you give it to them, they'll expect more.
You'll see.
Here in the South, we have college football, and when the good times roll like the tide, that's plenty, because it's everything.
I mean, what else is there?
Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network's national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer .
Subscribe to read all of his columns. Also, check out his podcast, SEC Football Unfiltered , and newsletter, SEC Unfiltered .
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Open letter to Kalen DeBoer before Alabama football vs. Georgia
