ESPN: Washington's Kalen DeBoer, Alabama in negotiations to replace Nick Saban as head coach
Alabama appears to narrowed its sights on its next head football coach.
Washington head coach Kalen DeBoer has emerged as the leader to replace Nick Saban at Alabama. According to an ESPN report Friday afternoon, Crimson Tide athletic director Greg Byrne and DeBoer are in the process of negotiating a deal to become Alabama’s next head football coach.
DeBoer has a wildly successful track record as a head coach at the various levels he’s coached, boasting a career record of 104-12 as a head coach. He most recently guided the Huskies to the College Football Playoff national championship game as part of a 25-3 run during his first two seasons at the helm.
In response to the interest from the Crimson Tide, ESPN has reported that the Washington administration made an aggressive push to retain DeBoer as the program moves into the Big Ten in 2024 and beyond.
ESPN reported that Huskies athletic director Troy Dannen is still pushing to get DeBoer inked to a deal that would more than double his current annual salary of $4.2 million. The goal would be to make DeBoer one of the top paid coaches in the sport. For comparison, Saban made more than $11 million in 2023.
DeBoer recently signed a contract extension, in November, that made his current buyout $12 million and extended his contract through the 2028 season.
Amid a crowded field of candidates, DeBoer emerged as the favorite, with today’s news coming after a number of other potential candidates secured extensions and lucrative raises at their current position.
ESPN’s Mark Schlabach explained a bit of the thinking on SportsCenter on Friday.
“Kalen DeBoer took Washington to the CFP National Championship for the first time in school history. He has got a short track record as one of the best offensive minds in the game. When Nick Saban retired on Wednesday, I think it was obvious to Alabama officials that some of his most successful disciples — Kirby Smart at Georgia, Steve Sarkisian at Texas — were in good situations and probably weren’t going to leave.” They focused in on DeBoer and Florida State’s Mike Norvell but I think Greg Byrne, the Alabama athletic director, felt Kalen DeBoer was the best choice to take on a challenging position at Alabama in replacing Nick Saban. I think, with the transfer portal still open, in today’s college football? You’ve got to make a decision to keep your roster from turning over. I think the days of exhaustive searches to find the best guy are over,” Schlabach said.
Saban retired on Wednesday after more than a decade and a half of leading Alabama, where he won six national championships and generally dominated the sport of college football during his tenure.