Pete Thamel Names Kyle Whittingham As Possible Washington Canidate After Kalen DeBoer Departure

The Washington head coaching gig is open following Kalen DeBoer accepting the head coaching position at Alabama

Over the past couple of days, college football saw arguably the best coach of all time decide to walk away from coaching, as Alabama's Nick Saban felt it was time to hang up the whistle.

The coaching search, while it was eventful, it was quick. Dan Lanning, Mike Norvell, and Steve Sarkisian all hinted or confirmed that they wouldn't leave their gig, and on Friday it was Washington's Kalen DeBoer who was named as the Alabama head coach. Big shoes to fill for DeBoer, but he's certainly someone who has found success at every stop he's had.

As for Washington, they now have a tall task of finding the perfect replacement to not only help them navigate their move to the Big Ten, but continue the success that DeBoer had. In his two seasons in Seattle, he was 25-3 as the head coach, winning the Pac-12 and appearing in the title game this year. The obvious choice for his replacement seems to be his offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb, but in naming possible candidates, ESPN's Pete Thamel cited Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham among other names.

Kyle Whittingham  / © Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports

Aside from Whittingham, Thamel also named Kansas' Lance Leipold, Arizona's Jedd Fisch, Iowa State's Matt Campbell, Grubb, and BYU's Kalani Sitake as possible candidates.

What many people don't realize is how decimated Washington's roster was going to be before DeBoer left. They had already lost their entire starting offense, and minutes after the news, one of their starting corners hit the portal as well.

Utah Utes Add Washington WR Transfer Taeshaun Lyons

Whittingham is typically thrown for head coaching jobs, and this seems to be another one of those instances.