Michigan Coaching Search: Paul Finebaum encourages Kalen DeBoer to look into Wolverines if Alabama loses to Oklahoma

Kalen DeBoer has had his name come up in the past two days for the newly opened job at Michigan. Paul Finebaum has now discussed his possible candidacy again, suggesting that, depending on how things go over the next week, he should take that call from the Wolverines.

Friday morning on ‘Get Up,’ Finebaum was asked about DeBoer being a candidate for the job in Ann Arbor, which came open after the firing and subsequent detainment of Sherrone Moore. However, he said nothing is obviously going to come out yet about this, with Alabama still set to play next week in the College Football Playoff.

“Yeah, I mean, Kalen DeBoer’s people, certainly, are putting out the feelers of the word that he’s not interested, but that’s to be understood. We are one week away from one of the most important games of his two-year tenure,” Finebaum said. “Originally, the Auburn game was, because, had he lost the Auburn game, it would have been the rivalry game, but he’d be out of the playoff and he’d probably be looking for an exit.”

To this point of DeBoer’s second season in Tuscaloosa, Alabama is 19-7 (.731) under DeBoer, with this year being better than his debut one as the Tide won 10 games, returned to the SEC Championship, and will be back in the CFP. However, having lost seven games in two seasons in general, especially as compared to his predecessor, Finebaum thinks a loss in the playoff next week could start to be what causes that job to maybe become too much for DeBoer.

“It is very mixed on Kalen DeBoer,” Finebaum said of the fanbase’s thoughts on him. “Now, again, we’re on the Friday after a 21-point loss to Georgia in the SEC Championship. This season was rocky. It started with a loss to Florida State, it got very good, and then Alabama lost to Oklahoma late in the season. And this, by the way, would be the third loss to Oklahoma, assuming that happens a week from tonight, in two seasons. That just is not acceptable.

“I mean, I’ve sat in this very chair with you many times after Nick Saban lost a national championship game, not a regular season game but a title game, and it felt like the end of the world. That is the standard at Alabama, and the question is how long can Kalen DeBoer deal with it? So far, he’s handled it pretty well, but it’s only been two seasons.”

We don’t yet know if DeBoer is even a legitimate candidate for this job, or what this coaching search will even look like for Michigan. That said, Finebaum is looking ahead to a week from tonight, as what Alabama does in Norman in the CFP could be very telling in how this goes for DeBoer, whether that be continuing on with the Tide or potentially considering something else with the Wolverines.

“Check back at midnight a week from now,” Finebaum said. “If Alabama wins that game, I think this goes completely off the board and he moves on to the Rose Bowl to take on Indiana. But, should Alabama lose, I don’t need to tell you what it’s like for Alabama to have consecutive four-loss seasons. I think he would take a deep breath and perhaps look at it, assuming that job is still open, and I would advise him to look at it, because the winter in Alabama after a four-loss season, two consecutive years for Kalen DeBoer, will be very cold.”

Josh Pate discusses DeBoer being mentioned as candidate for Michigan

Sitting alongside Finebaum on Friday morning on ‘Get Up,’ Josh Pate also gave his take on DeBoer as a possible candidate at Michigan. He could see why that’d be the case, but doesn’t think, in his mind, that he’d be that fast to leave Tuscaloosa for Ann Arbor.

“Yeah, it’s a name I assume they will circle. It’s a name that I would circle if I were them, and I’d make him tell me no. I don’t know…I think the answer will be no from Kalen DeBoer,” Pate said. “And, you know, I’ve talked to Kalen about this. I’ve heard him speak publicly recently about this when asked about the Penn State job. There’s this misnomer out there, and I think it was mainly created on the internet to make others feel good about their argument to get him, that he’s miserable at Alabama, which couldn’t be further from the case. And, not quite sure where it comes from, but, whenever you look him in the eye, on the record, off the record, that’s one of the last things he says. He actually says quite the opposite. And, I don’t know that he wants to get to Alabama, and, in two years, kind of say, nah, I’m done. Kalen DeBoer is a pretty fiery competitor.”

“So, I’d be hard-pressed to see him leaving. But that doesn’t mean Michigan shouldn’t go after him because you’re Michigan, so you make your A-candidate tell you no.”