Why Alabama is Confident Kalen DeBoer is Right Coach to Follow Nick Saban

Kalen DeBoer is stepping into massive shoes, but he seems to be eager and ready for the challenge.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Who wants to be the guy that follows "the guy?"

Well, Kalen DeBoer does.

He was announced as Alabama's 28th head football coach Friday afternoon following the retirement of legendary head coach Nick Saban earlier this week. 

"I knew this was the right move," DeBoer said. "I knew this was the thing, not that I had to do, but that I really wanted to do."

It didn't take Greg Byrne very long to figure out that DeBoer was the right fit for the program. The Alabama athletic director flew out to the West Coast on Wednesday and met with DeBoer in a hotel in Seattle on Thursday. From that conversation with DeBoer, his wife Nicole and Byrne's wife Regina, Byrne knew he had found the right coach for the Crimson Tide. 

"Simply put, Coach DeBoer is a winner," Byrne said during Saturday's introductory press conference. 

With a coach like Saban at the helm for nearly two decades, Alabama is a program used to winning. And that's all DeBoer has ever done. 

With a 104-12 record as a head coach, he has a winning percentage of 89.7 percent. In his most recent stop at Washington, DeBoer had a 25-3 record over two seasons and a 10-1 record against ranked opponents with the only loss coming to Michigan in the College Football Playoff championship game. 

"Impressive as those accolades are, what stands out equally as much is his relationships off the field and the way he cares about his players," Byrne said. "One of the things I felt responsibility for in the search was to make sure we had someone who cared for our kids just as much as Coach [Saban] and Miss Terry did. At the end of the day, when we’re hiring a coach, I ask a simple question, because I’ve got to keep it pretty simple for myself. ‘Is this someone I want my son to play for?’ The answer for Coach DeBoer is, ‘absolutely.'"

Byrne first became aware of who DeBoer was when he became the head coach at Fresno State in 2020. Byrne learned from his father, who was also a long-time athletic director, to always be keeping an eye on coaches. Even though Byrne was hoping Saban was staying as long as possible, he was still keeping coaches on his radar, and ee saw the way DeBoer treated his players on the sidelines and the winning product he continued to put on the field. 

Alabama president Dr. Stuart Bell called DeBoer "the perfect person" to lead the Alabama football program into the future.

Saban won six national championships with the Crimson Tide and had more NFL first-round draft picks than losses over 17 seasons at Alabama. No coach in college football history has built the type of dynasty Saban had.

"You better have somebody that’s comfortable in their own skin and that looks at this as a challenge and opportunity, not a detriment," Byrne said. "And almost immediately with Coach DeBoer and Nicole, too— because think of the impact Miss Terry’s had— they saw this as a wonderful opportunity.”

Two of the main concerns with DeBoer's hiring at Alabama are his recruiting ability and lack of connections and experience in the South. But DeBoer emphasized the importance of recruiting during Saturday's introductory press conference. 

"I understand it's the lifeblood of the program," DeBoer said. "We could have great coaches but the guys on the field are the ones that make the plays. A relentless attitude, starting with, first and foremost, myself and then leading to our staff is what it's going to take to be the best of the best here with the tough competition here in the SEC and to win a national championship."

Addressing both concerns starts and ends with the staff he hires. It's partially why he has already brought Courtney Morgan with him from Washington, to help retain the players already on Alabama's roster. 

There will be some cultural adjustments for DeBoer in the South, but switching regions is nothing new for him. The new Alabama head coach is from South Dakota and started his coaching career in the state at his alma mater Sioux Falls. He won multiple NAIA national championships at Sioux Falls before moving up to the FCS ranks as an assistant at Southern Illinois. His next job was at Eastern Michigan. 

He had spent his entire career in the Midwest before working as offensive coordinator under Jeff Tedford at Fresno State in 2017 and 2018. He moved back to the Midwest for one year at Indiana in 2019 before becoming the head coach at Fresno State and eventually Washington. 

"I will say this – I wasn’t a West Coast guy either," DeBoer shared. "I’d never been to the West Coast until just a few years ago and coached at two universities out there. So I think there’s an ability to adapt that I feel confident in for where we’re at. I understand what the SEC is all about and kind of how strong and how much it means here."

Byrne called ties to the SEC or the South an "added bonus" for a candidate, but said it would be shortsighted to exclude a coach from consideration that didn't have those connections. Byrne took that approach with the hire of Nate Oats, and Oats has won four SEC basketball titles in five seasons with the Crimson Tide. 

Even looking back at Saban's career, he had no experience in the South before being hired at LSU. Saban's jobs had taken him all across the Northeast and Midwest in both the college and NFL ranks, yet he was able to recruit and start "the process" at LSU, bringing a national title to the Tiger faithful just four years after arriving in Baton Rouge.

And DeBoer will have the full support of Saban to lean on. The two just met for the first time on Friday, but DeBoer said he had already called his predecessor multiple times. Saban was sitting front and center at the introductory press conference and will have 100 percent access to the program.

DeBoer ended his introductory speech with an emotional message to those he left behind at Washington, saying Alabama was maybe the only place he would've left Washington for. So, why Alabama and why the confidence to follow in the footsteps of Saban?

"When I look at places that I want to be, it's about winning championships," DeBoer said. "That's an expectation that I cannot wait and accept as a privilege to try to uphold, winning SEC championships, winning national championships. That's an expectation and a love and an interest that I've always had and a passion that I'll have and looking forward to carrying on with our players and our staff and all of you here as we go through these years ahead."

This will be his greatest challenge yet, but DeBoer has won championships at multiple stops along the way. And Alabama is confident that he can do it again with the Crimson Tide. 

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