The ‘black hoodie of death,’ Kalen DeBoer’s new emotions and Alabama’s torrid win streak

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Deep within the Mal Moore Athletic Complex, perhaps in some locked box or barred closet, the University of Alabama football team’s not-so-secret weapon of viral superstition resides.

There, somewhere, hidden and kept secret, are seven crisp and clean Nike Dri-FIT black hoodies.

Better known to the college football world as coach Kalen DeBoer’s black hoodie of death.

“They’re in safe keeping where only I know about them,” says Kyle Smith.

Smith holds an important role within the Alabama football program. He’s the director of equipment, a thankless and often overshadowed job but one of great importance.

In this job, Smith’s most visible responsibility is clothing the team’s head football coach on gameday. That means acting as the caretaker of what’s become one of this season’s quirky oddities: DeBoer’s black hoodie.

As coach at Alabama, he’s 16-0 in regular season games while wearing the outfit — the short or the long-sleeve version.

This bizarre statline — only in college football — is no longer just some fan-driven internet sensation. Bama players are well aware. So is the coaching staff, administrators and DeBoer’s own children.

From his office this Monday, DeBoer cracks a smile. He’s getting a kick out of all the hubbub.

“It got brought up this year with our players. They were like, ‘Coach, you got to wear it, man,’” DeBoer says laughing.

Things are good here right now. People are smiling, laughing and enjoying themselves — a product of their beloved Crimson Tide, now ranked fourth in the country, having won eight straight games.

Alabama (8-1) meets No. 11 Oklahoma (7-2) here on Saturday with a chance to likely secure a playoff berth and remain in pole position to play in the SEC championship game. It also provides an opportunity for DeBoer’s team to avenge last year’s costly and ugly 24-3 loss in Norman — a playoff hope-dashing debacle that sticks with the coach nearly one calendar year later.

“It is probably one of the things that baffled me the most about last season,” he says. “It’s how it happened. It’s how it felt. You’re not always going to be at your best, but we just didn’t bring it that night.”

For one, he wasn’t wearing that traditional black hoodie. On that night, for whatever reason, he chose to wear a two-toned hoodie: black but with red sleeves.

It was one of the last times he veered away from his traditional gameday attire. In fact, after donning a red polo shirt for the season-opening loss at Florida State this year, DeBoer has worn his long sleeve black hoodie eight consecutive games.

The eight wins include four straight against top-15 ranked teams, to go with three ranked wins last year while donning that hoodie (he wore the short-sleeve version in two of those). In his FBS head coaching career — including stops at Washington and Fresno State — DeBoer is 19-3 against AP-ranked teams. That’s the best mark against top-25 opponents in the sport’s history.

His gameday hoodies aren’t anything new. Just look back through photos of his head coaching career, he says. You’ll find him often stalking the sideline, playsheet in hand, while wearing a dark hoodie.

He began wearing them during chilly days while coaching in Seattle, Fresno, Calif. and even Sioux Falls, S.D. Now in the humid, hot Deep South, the weather hasn’t mattered. In September games against UL-Monroe and Wisconsin this year, DeBoer donned his hoodie.

At least one player demanded it.

Earlier this season, Alabama receiver Germie Bernard saw DeBoer’s hoodie-wearing record in a post on Instagram, screenshotted it and texted it to the coach with a message: “Looks like you got to wear the hoodie from now on every game.”

Before a game against Alabama, Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz, never the shy type, asked DeBoer while on the SEC football coaches teleconference if he’d be wearing his “black hoodie of death” in the upcoming game against the Tigers.

Sure enough, DeBoer strolled into Memorial Stadium with the outfit — usually paired with black slacks and tennis shoes. The Tide won, of course, 27-24. DeBoer has won just one game without wearing the black hoodie: last year’s win at Wisconsin, when he donned a red long sleeve hoodie. And he’s lost one game in the black hoodie: Michigan’s win over the Tide in the ReliaQuest bowl last December.

The hoodie is already a thing of legend. Earlier this year, the Paul W. Bryant Museum in Tuscaloosa added one of the hoodies to its display collection with the message, “This piece isn’t just team apparel – it’s a growing part of Crimson Tide tradition. Worn during some of the biggest moments of the season, the hoodies represents a new chapter of leadership and energy in Alabama football.”

Smith laughs about it all, especially considering where most of the hoodies came from: the Alabama campus bookstore.

“How we got the hoodie… well, it’s a funny story,” he says.

The hoodie is a 2024 Nike Sideline Dri-FIT extra-large top. They are not easy to find. The company doesn’t make them any longer and Smith only has seven of them. He purchased most of those from the bookstore last year after DeBoer took over for Nick Saban.

“Coaching change happens, I meet with DeBoer and ask what he likes for games. He says he always has worn a black lightweight hoodie,” Smith recalls.

Smith purchased all of the extra-large and double-XL Dri-FIT hoodies in the entire bookstore.

“The guy working the register goes to my church,” Smith says with a laugh. “He was confused.”

Nike sent Alabama a few more, emptying out its stock last year before unveiling a 2025 version of the hoodie that DeBoer does not wear. The updated model just isn’t the same.

Though Smith keeps seven of the extra-large hoodies, DeBoer wears a rotation of only two. The others are replacements.

DeBoer is careful with the hoodies. After the win over Tennessee, Alabama players and staff kept with the tradition of smoking cigars in the postgame locker room. The coach was sure to tell his players “not to get any ashes” on the hoodie.

“He’s got a great attitude about it,” Smith says. “He understands the fan base has taken off and ran with it. Everybody wants to know where to get the hoodie.”

This year’s winning streak has driven up prices of the hoodie on resale sites as Bama fans rush to purchase the item. On various platforms, the hoodies are specifically labeled as “Kalen DeBoer’s black hoodie.”

On eBay, the bidding for one of them is starting at $120.

The hoodie aside, there’s something more going on here.

Alabama’s two-touchdown loss at Florida State now seems inexplicable. The two teams have gone in opposite directions. The Seminoles have lost five of their last six games and their coach is in jeopardy of being fired.

DeBoer, meanwhile, is the toast of the town. He changed more than just his gameday wardrobe this season.

During that interview Monday in his office, DeBoer, known for his stoic and calm demeanor, acknowledges that he’s shown more emotion, forcing his feelings outwardly in a more public way. He’s more fiery. And perhaps his team is responding to it.

“That’s probably the part that changed more,” he says. “When you’re in that moment and you get punched in the mouth, you’ve got to find other ways to breathe the energy into these guys and this team. A little bit more about how I feel and think had to be expressed to the guys.”

There are noticeable moments — DeBoer barking at officials a bit more, riling up players on the sideline or a smacking of the goal post.

The latter happened as DeBoer emerged from the tunnel with the team behind him for the game against Tennessee. Bryant-Denny Stadium’s Jumbotron showed the coach angrily delivering an open-hand slap to the padded goal post, sneering back toward his team as the crowd roared.

“That just kind of happened,” he says chuckling about the viral moment. “The team was fired up in the locker room and ready to go. I could feel it.”

Sure, there’s been other things to explain the winning streak.

Quarterback Ty Simpson’s rise as one of the Heisman Trophy favorites, for example. He’s thrown one interception and 21 touchdowns after a struggle in the season opener in Tallahassee. The FSU game remains his lowest completion percentage of the year (53.5% on 43 attempts).

A defense that allowed 20 first downs and 31 points to the Seminoles hasn’t given up more than 24 in any other game, has forced 16 turnovers (top 20 nationally) and is led by a wrecking crew of Yhonzae Pierre (six sacks), LT Overton (four sacks) and Bray Hubbard (three interceptions).

DeBoer can measure the improvement in the team in something other than wins and losses. The GPS-type trackers worn by Alabama players during practice has measured higher intensity since Week 1, the coach says.

It’s a product of being knocked down.

“It’s given us an edge,” he says.

“A lot changed with the team [after FSU],” Pierre says. “We had to move with urgency. We’re all working. We knew we had to prove a point: Everybody against us.”

The loss to Florida State — only DeBoer’s 14th game as coach — drew criticism far and wide. Television and radio personalities, even former Alabama players, described the team has “soft.” Some Alabama donors, hiding behind anonymity, cast doubt on DeBoer’s coaching chops and future in Tuscaloosa.

“To be honest, I didn’t pay a lot of attention to it. If you manage by Twitter, that’s not going to be a healthy thing for your department,” said Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne. “Now, we’ve got a really good Oklahoma team coming in. We have to be focused on controlling each day and getting prepared for Saturday.”

The Sooners are good enough to win in Knoxville and beat Michigan and they had a bye last week while the Tide played LSU.

Last year, Oklahoma “kind of smacked us right across the face,” DeBoer says, clearly still frustrated by the result. The 24-3 loss still sits with players, even those who didn’t play much.

“I got in one play and it motivated me,” Simpson said. “I remember that warmup and team meal, the whole game and how it felt. It felt spooky. I don’t want to have that feeling again this year. Our house. Lot at stake.”

For the Sooners, it may serve as a playoff elimination game. For the Tide, it’s a chance to secure a berth in the postseason field.

Will the 2024 Nike version of the black hoodie make its ninth straight appearance on the Alabama sideline?

DeBoer smiles. Of course it will.

“At some point,” he says, smiling, “I’ll have to change to the newer version.”