Zeb Walker

WHERE YOU SHOW OUT IS WHERE YOU GET KNOCKED OUT Until Saturday night, I sometimes looked at Kalen DeBoer and thought of Wally Cleaver from Leave It to Beaver. “Golly gee, Beav! What in the world were you thinking?” I wanted to see some FIRE! Well, Saturday night, I saw it. After Dijon Lee Jr. lost his composure at a critical moment, Coach DeBoer met him on that sideline with something every young person, athlete, employee, and sometimes every grown adult needs: ACCOUNTABILITY. And watching teammates and former players keep Dijon Lee Jr. there to receive the correction made the moment even more powerful to me. My mama used to tell my brothers and me: “Where you show out is where you get knocked out.” I thought Mama was bluffing until one of my brothers tested that policy in the grocery store. Friends, that demonstration immediately produced several born-again children! Nobody required a family meeting. Nobody requested clarification. WE UNDERSTOOD THE ASSIGNMENT! I grew up in a different generation, when corporal punishment was common. I’m not saying everybody should raise children that way. I’m saying the larger lesson I carried from it was unmistakable: Choices have consequences. Nick Saban put it another way:“Discipline is not punishment. Discipline is changing someone’s behavior.” And Paul “Bear” Bryant is credited with saying,“If you don’t have discipline, you can’t have a successful program.” That applies far beyond football. Real love doesn't always pat you on the back. Sometimes real love gets in your face and tells you,“You're better than this.” Real leadership doesn't ignore bad behavior because somebody is talented. And real teammates don't help you escape accountability. They help you face it, learn from it, and grow from it. That is why that sideline moment just might become a defining moment in Kalen DeBoer’s Alabama tenure. Sometimes the greatest thing a leader can give you isn't praise. It's correction strong enough to keep you from making the same mistake twice. youtu.be/JWodBdwjEQQ?si=K49-…