Not long after Kalen DeBoer landed on the tarmac in Tuscaloosa, he made it a mission to get in contact with five-star Ryan Williams.

In fact, the night DeBoer was hired, Saraland football coach Jeff Kelly said he received a message from a member of DeBoer's staff.

"I got a phone call the night he was hired from a member of his staff," Kelly said. "It was within a day or so, I had a conversation. They really made it a very important, early part of his first few days, a priority to reach out to Ryan and to me and to kind of introduce himself and who he is and who he wants to be as a coach, and the plans he would have for Ryan and what they do offensively."

DeBoer's commitment to resecure Williams, who decommitted from Alabama in the wake of Nick Saban's retirement, paid off. Williams recommitted to the Crimson Tide on Jan. 24 and officially signed his national letter of intent on Wednesday morning at Saraland High School.

"Anyone else that probably came into that position, they will try to live up to the coach Saban hype or try to act like coach Saban," Williams said. "(Coach DeBoer) is himself, he is very comfortable, and I believe in his offense."

Another big piece in resecuring Williams' commitment to Alabama, Williams said, was fellow five-star Alabama football signee Jaylen Mbakwe.

"I am going to give him the number one recruiter," Williams said. "I got to give it to him. If I don't, he might beat me up.

"(His biggest pitch) was that we got to play together. Me and him, we are best friends, so we got to."

Anna Snyder covers high school sports and University of Alabama softball and football recruiting for The Tuscaloosa News. Reach her at asnyder@gannett.com. Follow her on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, @annaesnyder2

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Alabama football: Why Kalen DeBoer deserves credit in resecuring Ryan Williams