Alabama plans to hire Kalen DeBoer as the new head football coach, replacing legendary coach Nick Saban.
DeBoer’s impressive track record includes a 105-12 record as a head coach and being named AP Coach of the Year at Washington last season. He led Washington to a Pac-12 championship and the College Football Playoff national championship game, cementing his role as a top-rated coach.
DeBoer’s offenses were consistently highly ranked, ranking 13th nationally in scoring this season and sixth in 2022. He has also been a head coach at Fresno State and in the Division II ranks with Sioux Falls.
One of DeBoer’s top concerns will be roster retention. Alabama’s roster is already stacked with stars and elite players, and a mass exodus of players to the transfer portal would be crippling. DeBoer will have to evaluate the roster quickly and ensure that any players he wants to keep know that they are wanted. The players have a 30-day window to enter the transfer portal and explore other options.
DeBoer inherits a team that won an SEC championship and made it to the College Football Playoff, so his primary goal should be to maintain the status quo while adding in pieces to supplement an already excellent roster. The big piece of that class is five-star quarterback Julian Sayin, who was the No. 1 quarterback and the No. 3 overall prospect in the cycle. For depth, talent, and competition, keeping Sayin on the roster is imperative.
Alabama wanted a proven winner, and DeBoer fits the bill perfectly. He has won eleven or more games in seven of his nine seasons as head coach. Two of the other head coaches mentioned in connection with Alabama’s search, Dan Lanning and Steve Sarkisian, were a combined 0-5 against DeBoer over the last two seasons.
