January 12th, 2024 at 2:57 PM ^
Why would he do that to himself? Fan base will demand 1 national championship every 3 years minimum.
January 12th, 2024 at 3:00 PM ^
Doesn't have to lose to Michigan as often?
January 12th, 2024 at 3:19 PM ^
Has to deal with Crimson Tide fans sending him death threats if he loses though.
January 12th, 2024 at 3:07 PM ^
His entire offense is going to the NFL.
January 12th, 2024 at 3:28 PM ^
Alabama will be able to restock under most any coach. And the returning backups are all high four-star and 5 star guys anyway. Alabama is always stocked with talent.
January 12th, 2024 at 3:48 PM ^
Yeah, he probably has a much easier job replicating his offense at Bama than doing it again at Washington. Their recruiting class in the 30's or something, and Michael Penix-type QB's just don't grow on trees. At Bama, he's got Milroe and a billion 5 stars to play with, and all the NIL money he could ask for to throw at other elite players.
He might get run out of there in 3 years for not being Saban, but it's also likely an easier job than restocking Washington in the B1G would be
January 12th, 2024 at 3:51 PM ^
Alabama is always stocked with talent.
Is it because:
1. Nick Saban only hires coaches who are great recruiters and works harder recruiting than anyone else in college football.
2. Alabama and the South is full of talent and players want to play for a winner.
3. Alabama pays players.
I don't think DeBoer can replicate #1 if it has anything to do with reality. Alabama's talent is several standard deviations beyond everyone else.
#2 is a constant so maybe...
#3 is probably a constant as well, but everyone can pay players now. This should drop off.
DeBoer per his Div III national championships and performance this year with less talent say that he is an elite coach. I'm guessing they average another .5 losses a year than what they did with Saban.
January 12th, 2024 at 4:07 PM ^
Never thought Saban was as good of a coach as people say. You give Harbaugh that much of a talent advantage and he might never lose a game.
January 12th, 2024 at 4:32 PM ^
Saban pretty much requires a talent advantage to win. He couldn't do it consistently at MSU or the Dolphins. Not saying he isn't a good coach, but having better Jimmies & Joes makes a big difference. Maybe we could say he usually gets the most out of very talented players.
January 12th, 2024 at 5:21 PM ^
Dude. Saban was a fantastic coach. MSU went to four bowl games with him, after only making one bowl the four years prior. He also won a title at LSU. Nobody will come close to matching his titles for a long long time.
January 12th, 2024 at 4:05 PM ^
I suspect that you are quite a bit younger than I. Take nothing for granted. Much as we had a down cycle during the Rich Rod and Hoke years, Alabama had theirs between Bear Bryant and Saban.
January 12th, 2024 at 3:01 PM ^
Hell of a task … great young coach but to follow Saban is a monumental task … when he loses his first game that fan base will lose it and the pressure will be immense!!!
January 12th, 2024 at 3:04 PM ^
Obviously no one will compare well with Saban but I think he will be fine there.
Alabama is an established brand and has massive resources for football. He is a proven winning HC and he'll take over a team chock full of talent. I'm interested to see what he can do with Jalen Milroe next year.
January 12th, 2024 at 3:16 PM ^
He will also have 25+ 5* players on the roster and has a record of over 100 wins and 12 loses. The dude is an elite coach. I imagine he will do quiet well down there. I wouldn't be shocked to see him turn into an Urban level coach.
January 12th, 2024 at 3:33 PM ^
Urban level coach? You think he’s gonna cover up domestic violence allegations?
January 12th, 2024 at 3:06 PM ^
He'll last somewhere between 2 and 4 years with Bama, before he's fired and replaced with someone from Saban's coaching tree.
January 12th, 2024 at 3:21 PM ^
^^^^^^
Truth
January 12th, 2024 at 3:45 PM ^
He’s been incredibly successful everywhere (114-12). Washington was 4-8 in 2021, the season before he took over. They were 11-2 in his first year and 14-1 this season. And you think he won’t be able to win at Alabama, with their talent and resources? That’s quite a take.
January 12th, 2024 at 4:57 PM ^
You realize 67 of those wins came from coaching the mighty Sioux Falls Cougars? Not saying he's a bad coach, but there's some room for skepticism for the time being while he gets more P5 games on his resume.
January 12th, 2024 at 3:09 PM ^
Here I was thinking next year's Washington game would be a struggle.
Still might be, but looking less likely
January 12th, 2024 at 3:11 PM ^
Oh, I am sure Washington fans are simply thrilled about this....
January 12th, 2024 at 3:22 PM ^
Yeah, I'm seeing some "See what joining the Big 10 did to us!" type stuff out here (Seattle), as if that has anything to do with the gigantic financial and success disparity at the very top of college football right now.
January 12th, 2024 at 3:46 PM ^
Then stay in the fucking Pac 12, er, Pac 3. The Big Ten is Washington's safe harbor, Washington is not the Big Ten's safe harbor.
January 12th, 2024 at 5:25 PM ^
lol. This might be the biggest job opening of the decade. Pretty much every coach was calling the Bama AD trying to slide their resume onto his desk.
January 12th, 2024 at 3:49 PM ^
Actual quote from the Husky board blaming this departure for the loss to M (caution: may trigger conspiracists):
"Alabama was not surprised that Saban was leaving, they have been putting out feelers via his agent for months.
This Deboer fuck knew about Saban (from his shared agent) and knew he had a chance at the job if he preformed well against Texas after the Pac-12 championship game.
After Texas he starts thinking about staff, floats the idea to best friend Grubb about coming with him (it’s only in a week anyways). That week of prep, the rumor percolates from the OC into the team especially to Penix and the WRs, coaches missing meetings, not as available as they should be, Penix plays stiff, germbern gets lost on the plane, Polk has a shitty attitude…."
And, sure enough, LSA:
"In any case, thanks a lot for the 50% shares, Big Ten. We lost our coach because of that."
January 12th, 2024 at 5:26 PM ^
Lmao. Saban just did an interview admitting he was still interviewing assistants and basically undecided until the hour leading up to his announcement.
January 12th, 2024 at 3:12 PM ^
We need to flip some commits.
January 12th, 2024 at 3:12 PM ^
So we retired Saban and chased DeBoer out of the conference.
This NC is the gift that keeps on giving.
January 12th, 2024 at 3:15 PM ^
Pretty remarkable that in each of our last three games (Iowa, Bama, Washington), we ended the tenure of the other team's head coach.
January 12th, 2024 at 3:18 PM ^
Only Brian was ... asked to not do whatever it was he was doing any more. Kirk is still coaching Iowa.
January 12th, 2024 at 3:50 PM ^
Iowa fans only wish we had driven their head coach away lol
January 12th, 2024 at 3:18 PM ^
Iowa? You know something?
January 12th, 2024 at 3:16 PM ^
Interesting to read about super agent Jimmy Sexton who represents ALL of the coaches that were rumored to Alabama (and are ALL getting big raises) AND Kalen DeBoer (and Nick Saban). He basically got to choose who Alabama's next coach would be and get big raises for a bunch of his clients (and himself) at the same time.
January 12th, 2024 at 3:27 PM ^
I don't think he chose who their next coach would be. If Dan Lanning was Bama's first choice and told him "I want to be the Alabama coach", and Sexton said to Bama "I'd rather you take DeBoer", that's malpractice on the part of Sexton. I can't see how it wouldn't be an insane conflict of interest if multiple clients of his wanted the same job..
January 12th, 2024 at 3:40 PM ^
I see the point you're making. I guess my point was more - "he knew which of those coaches would actually say yes" and made sure all the other clients of his that were a possibility got PAID first. Joel Klatt said yesterday that he thought it was most likely that Kalen DeBoer would be Alabama's next coach because of Sexton.
*EDIT* except for James Franklin but I think that's because he already has an insane contract
January 12th, 2024 at 3:20 PM ^
Here's hoping he announces a huge extension with Washington using this as leverage and leaves Bama in the lurch
January 12th, 2024 at 3:21 PM ^
If UW had won (perish the thought) would he still leave?
January 12th, 2024 at 3:23 PM ^
I think yes. The UW athletic department is in some financial difficulty, which led to them having to find a richer conference. That doesn't seem to be the case at Alabama. The latter is also somehow unfettered by having to follow, you know, rules.
January 12th, 2024 at 3:28 PM ^
I mean literally everyone in their conference ended up leaving after USC and UCLA did. I don't think that was the result of UW
January 12th, 2024 at 3:22 PM ^
That's unfortunate for Washington.
I hope that they at least tried to match Bama's offer... Finding a good coach is tough; can't be outspent when you just went to the National Title game and are joining the B1G...
Not sure how DeBoer will do at Bama, but he is a heck of a coach.
January 12th, 2024 at 3:22 PM ^
He has never coached in the south. I wonder about the culture fit.
January 12th, 2024 at 3:26 PM ^
Well he'll be there with his fam-uh-ly so I'm sure it will be fine.
January 12th, 2024 at 3:29 PM ^
As funny as this is, DeBoer doesn't strike me as someone who is absolutely fake the way Kelly is.
January 12th, 2024 at 3:34 PM ^
Yeah, it was a joke at BK's expense.
DeBoer would never do it, but what an epic troll it would be if he said "fam-uh-ly" with a wink at his introduction.
January 12th, 2024 at 3:27 PM ^
Brian Kelly voice: "wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh cou all y'all poss'bly wander bout mah fit down heyah"?
January 12th, 2024 at 3:41 PM ^
Kelly does seem like a fish out of water but I have a suspicion he'll get LSU going.
January 12th, 2024 at 3:45 PM ^
He's from South Dakota - he'll fit in fine.
January 12th, 2024 at 3:26 PM ^
What a kick in the nuts this would be for Washington. Find a gem of a coach that takes you to the National Championship game. Lose National Championship game and then lose the gem coach. At least if Harbaugh leaves we still know we have a coach in the waiting that can beat Ohio State. Go Blue!
January 12th, 2024 at 3:30 PM ^
Unless someone in the carousel hires Moore. That's what I'm afraid of. Imagine if UW hired Fisch and Arizona hired Moore. Then who would our coach be if Harbaugh decided to leave?