Five Potential Candidates to Take Over for Kalen DeBoer at Washington

Alabama’s hire of the Huskies coach leaves a huge opening at the Pacific Northwest power.

In the wake of Nick Saban’s retirement from Alabama on Wednesday, the program reportedly sought to fill the opening within 72 hours. On Friday, they pulled it off with time to spare, hiring Washington’s Kalen DeBoer, fresh off of his team’s run to the national championship game.

Any coach would have a hard time turning down the Crimson Tide job, even if it means following a legend like Saban. However, DeBoer leaves behind a very attractive job in its own right, and one that will be part of the very lucrative Big Ten starting in 2024.

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The Huskies are fresh off of their second College Football Playoff run, and have plenty of recent success to build from. They also currently have their pick of available coaches, without any other significant openings at the moment.

With that in mind, here are five names that would fit the bill as potential targets for Washington.

Ryan Grubb, Washington offensive coordinator

Grubb, who turned down a job on Saban’s staff a year ago, could be in line for the Washington head coaching job after DeBoer’s departure to Alabama :: Maria Lysaker/USA TODAY Sports

Grubb may have inadvertently set the wheels in motion for DeBoer to ultimately land the Alabama job when he turned down an opportunity to become Saban’s offensive coordinator a year ago. Instead, he stayed at Washington for a second season, engineering the Michael Penix Jr.-led offense that set college football on fire in ’23.

Washington’s decision to promote Jimmy Lake after Chris Petersen’s resignation did not go well, which could make the Huskies gun-shy, but that recent history aside, promoting Grubb would make plenty of sense. He’ll likely be getting other looks for head-coaching roles in the near future, especially if another option is following DeBoer to Alabama to work with quarterback Jalen Milroe.

Lance Leipold, Kansas

Washington found success with DeBoer, a coach who dominated in the NAIA ranks before climbing the ladder all the way to Alabama. Huskies AD Troy Dannen, who will be making his first football hire to replace DeBoer, hired a coach with a similar résumé in his last job at Tulane—Willie Fritz, who turned the Green Wave into one of the top Group of 5 programs in the country.

Leipold is made from a very similar mold, with six Division III national titles at Wisconsin-Whitewater before jumping to the FBS ranks at Buffalo. Now, he’s turned around one of college football’s most difficult programs, leading Kansas to back-to-back bowl games and a 9–4 record in ’23. Washington would be a strong next step for the 59-year-old, who has proven he can win at all levels.

Chris Klieman, Kansas State

Across the state from Leipold is Klieman, who took on the unenviable task of following the program’s architect, Bill Snyder, and has maintained the level of success that the Wildcats are accustomed to. 

Klieman is 39–24 in Manhattan, with a 10-win season and Big 12 championship in ’22. Before that, he stewarded the FCS dynasty at North Dakota State, going 69–6 with four national championships in five seasons. There are few coaches with a better reputation for winning in the Northwest.

Jimmy Rogers, South Dakota State

Rogers went 15–0 in his first year as South Dakota State head coach, led by a stifling defense :: Javier Vicencio/IMAGO

If Washington wants to go with a younger coach with experience dominating at the FCS level, Rogers is fresh off of leading the Jackrabbits to a 15–0 record and national championship in his first year as head coach. The 2023 Eddie Robinson Award winner has been on his alma mater’s staff since 2013, limiting his experience elsewhere, but the numbers speak for themselves. Rogers’s defense allowed just 9.27 points and 257.2 yards per game, both marks the best in the FCS.

Pete Carroll, Seattle Seahawks advisor

Just days after his surprising departure as Seahawks coach, it seems unlikely that Carroll would return to the college ranks. However, he didn’t rule out coaching again during a Friday radio interview.

“I don’t know that,” Carroll said, per ESPN’s Brady Henderson, when asked whether he will coach again. “I’ve got plenty of energy for it and thought and willingness but can’t imagine there’s a place, the right one. I don’t know. I’m open to everything, but I’m not holding my breath on that. There’s a lot of world out here that I’m excited about challenging and going after. So if that happens, it happens. We’ll see. I really don’t know what to tell you about that yet.”

Before his successful run with Seattle, Carroll was a dominant college coach at USC, leading the team to a 97–19 record with a national championship in ’04, a top finish in the ’03 AP poll, six Pac-10 titles and six BCS bowl wins. 

The 72-year-old still seems spry and says he has “plenty of energy” left. The opportunity at Washington would also keep him in Seattle. 

The Huskies will lose a ton of contributors next season, especially on offense, so this isn’t necessarily a plug-and-play situation. The college game is also much different now than when Carroll last coached in ’09. However, if he won’t rule out a return to coaching, we won’t either.