Alabama football expected to hire Jatavis Sanders as Director of Recruiting Strategy, per report

The Alabama Crimson Tide and their new head football coach, Kalen DeBoer, have been busy assembling a new coaching staff in the past few weeks. On Sunday evening, Matt Zenitz reported that the Tide are expected to hire Jatavis Sanders as their new Director of Recruiting Strategy. Sanders currently works with the N.C. State Wolfpack. He’s been a key player behind the scenes for NCSU and has helped them reel in their second-highest ranked recruiting class since the 2008 cycle.

The Wolfpack reeled in wide receiver Terrell Anderson in the 2024 cycle. He played his high school football at Grimsley (Greensboro, North Carolina). He was rated as the No. 116 overall player in the country and a four-star prospect, according to the On3 Industry Rankings. As of Sunday evening, the Wolfpack’s 2024 class is currently ranked No. 30 in the nation, according to the On3 Team Recruiting Rankings.

Alabama is busy getting used to life after Nick Saban, one of the greatest coaches in the history of the sport.

DeBoer is coming off an impressive two-year stretch at Washington after taking over for Jimmy Lake. He found immediate success, taking the Huskies to a 10-2 record in his first season in 2022 as part of an impressive turnaround from a 4-8 mark in 2021. Then, he took the program to college football’s biggest stage, leading UW to the national championship against Michigan.

Two days after that game, Saban announced he was retiring from coaching after a legendary career as he became arguably the greatest of all time. Although Greg Byrne’s goal was 72 hours to make a hire, it only took him 48.

“We are excited to welcome Kalen and Nicole DeBoer, and their daughters, Alexis and Avery, to The University of Alabama,” Byrne said in a statement. “Coach DeBoer has proven he is a winner and has done an incredible job as a head coach at each of his stops. One of the things I told our team the other day is we are going to get someone who is not only a great coach with the Xs and Os, but also someone who cares about his players and someone I’d want my sons to play for, just like I would have wanted them to play for Coach Saban. We got that in Coach DeBoer.

“He is ready to get to work, and we look forward to him leading the Alabama Crimson Tide football program for years to come. We are grateful to our leadership in President Stuart Bell, Chancellor Finis St. John and The University of Alabama System Board of Trustees for their support during this process.”

Inside Kalen DeBoer’s resume, tall task he’s facing as he replaces Nick Saban

DeBoer’s resume is impressive. Over his nine years as a head coach — four at NAIA Sioux Falls from 2005-09, two at Fresno State from 2020-21 and two at Washington from 2022-23 — he has a 104-12 career record. That includes a 25-3 record with the Huskies, and he took the program to its first-ever national championship game, where they fell to Michigan Monday night in Houston.

DeBoer is also known as an impressive offensive mind, spending most of his career as an offensive coordinator before becoming a head coach. Now, he’s gearing up to replace Saban — which he noted in his statement.

Saban spent 17 years at Alabama, leading the Crimson Tide to six national championships and winning 201 games during that time. In addition to his trophies, he developed an extensive coaching tree, featuring plenty of big-name coaches such as Texas’ Steve Sarkisian and Ole Miss’ Lane Kiffin, among many others.

On3’s Nick Schultz also contributed to this article.