Following in the footsteps of a legend is never easy, but that’s what will be asked of Kalen DeBoer.
Alabama has found the successor to Nick Saban, landing on DeBoer, the former head coach at Washington. DeBoer emerged as a strong contender for the job after Oregon’s Dan Lanning, Texas’ Steve Sarkisian, and Florida State’s Mike Norvell publicly backed out of consideration for the position.
The Huskies reportedly did not let DeBoer go without a fight. They reportedly offered him a contract double his current salary of $4.2 million, along with added bonuses. However, the allure of coaching at one of college football’s blue-blood programs evidently proved enough to convince him to depart Seattle.
In following Saban, DeBoer will have some major shoes to fill. Saban won six national championships for the Crimson Tide, posted a win-loss record of 206-29, and won at least 11 games every season since 2010. Saban’s Crimson Tide teams never lost an SEC championship game, reached the College Football Playoff seven times (more than any other program), and lost in the first round of the CFP only twice.
