TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Alabama fans hungry for a return to national-title contention filled Bryant-Denny Stadium for Nick Saban’s first spring game.

Kalen DeBoer steps into a much different situation 17 years later. DeBoer wrapped up his first spring with the Crimson Tide on Saturday just a few months into the task of trying to maintain the juggernaut Saban built while navigating a very different world of NIL and the transfer portal.

His unofficial debut at Bryant-Denny Stadium drew an announced crowd of 72,358 for the A-Day game, nearly 2,000 more than Husky Stadium’s capacity at Washington. If the scrimmage was not a true gauge of how Alabama will look in DeBoer’s first season, the turnout illustrates the level of interest — and perhaps curiosity and anxiety.

Saban’s first A-Day scrimmage drew a then-capacity 92,138 fans in 2007, but he arrived for a program on a 15-year national title drought with a championship of his own on the resume at LSU. He was on hand for the scrimmage and addressed the team beforehand.

DeBoer, who led Washington to the national championship game in just his second year, said it was his first taste of “feeling the energy and the excitement of what it would be on a Saturday” during the season. “That was a lot of fun.”

He told the players to “enjoy this moment”, especially the ones who like himself were in their first action before Tide fans.

“I made sure that they relished this day,” DeBoer said. “When you say those things, you do it yourself as well.”

DeBoer takes over a program that has won six national championships during Saban’s 17-year tenure and was in contention far more often than not.

There was some restlessness among the fan base even before Saban’s retirement in January, since the Tide haven’t won it all since 2020. Now, Alabama is hoping DeBoer can maintain what Saban established or close to it.