Kalen Deboer has been hired as Alabama’s 28th head coach after Nick Saban’s retirement.
TUSCALOOSA, ALA.– Mere days after Washington lost in the title game, the head coach of the Huskies has taken the job at Alabama. After longtime Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban announced his retirement, the job became a hotbed for coaching talent, being seen as the premier coaching vacancy on the college football landscape. The job will now be Kalen DeBoer’s, 49, who had been the head coach of the Washington Huskies since 2022.
It seemed as though the Crimson Tide already had a list of top coaching candidates directly after Saban’s retirement, possibly anticipating the coming of the legendary coach’s decision to step away from the game. DeBoer has been a rising star in the coaching world, having held Division I head coach positions at both Fresno State and the University of Washington. He led the Bulldogs to a 9-3 record in 2021, the only full season he coached, and turned a lost Husky team into bona fide national champion contenders throughout 2022 and 2023 when he took them to the national championship game against Michigan.
DeBoer also began his head coaching career at the University of Sioux Falls where he was madly successful with the Cougars. Over the span of his entire career, DeBoer is 104-12 as a head coach, making him a worth successor to the program Nick Saban left behind.
“He has a proven track record of success and is one of the brightest football minds,” Saban said in a statement released by Alabama. “Coach DeBoer has an excellent understanding of what it takes to be a successful head coach, whether it’s coaching, recruiting, developing players or building a culture.”
DeBoer will take on a tall task of carrying on after a coaching great, possibly one of the best of all time. However, his track record has proven he can coach on the world’s biggest stage, something Alabama prioritized in their head coaching search. While Oregon’s Dan Lanning was also a viable candidate, some could speculate that he didn’t do enough and get the results that Alabama wanted from a head coaching candidate, failing to win against Washington this year and missing the College Football Playoff.
DeBoer has also proven his ability to foster a successful offense. Washington’s offense earned an overall grade of 92.3 according to PFF, one of the highest in the nation. His work with quarterback Michael Penix Jr. also helped his case, building his resume as a quarterback guru– something Alabama wanted to hone in on.
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For DeBoer, roster retention and construction is a task that will have to get worked on right away. As with any coaching staff change in today’s college football era, a plethora of players will seek to hit the portal right away. While we don’t know just how deep the exodus will be, it’s apparent that DeBoer won’t have exactly the same team that made it to the CFP semifinals this year and won the SEC. On the bright side, Alabama’s culture has been built up strong enough to where players may want to stay and play for the Crimson A.
As for construction, numerous five-stars and other recruits have chosen to decommit in wake of Saban’s retirement. The goal for DeBoer? Keep as many recruits as you can and start building your own culture. It’s important to understand that Alabama is not trying to replace Saban, instead carrying on his tradition. DeBoer was brought in to bring his own style of coaching, whether that be drastically different from Saban.
“Coach DeBoer has proven he is a winner and has done an incredible job as a head coach at each of his stops,” said Director of Athletics Greg Byrne.
“One of the things I told our team the other day is we are going to get someone who is not only a great coach with the Xs and Os, but also someone who cares about his players and someone I’d want my sons to play for, just like I would have wanted them to play for Coach Saban. We got that in Coach DeBoer.”
