Alabama Crimson Tide almost didn’t hire Kalen Deboer. The replacement for Nick Saban would have shocked the college coaching football world.
The ripple effect of coach hiring is more relevant than ever. After Saban’s retirement, Alabama hired former Washington Head Coach Kalen Deboer. Once Deboer was hired, Jedd Fish jumped ship from Arizona and filled the Washington Head Coaching vacancy. Brett Brennan, former San Jose St. head coach, then moved on to Arizona.
It was reported early Wednesday that Alabama was deep in talks with Florida State’s head coach, Mike Norvell. If Norvel had been hired, Florida State would have approached Lane Kiffin, the Current head coach of Ole Miss, to take over their current ACC Championship team.
Florida State officials feared Mike Norvell was heading to Alabama, and were prepared to target Lane Kiffin👀
“In fact, in the wee hours of that Friday morning, the fear among Florida State officials was that Norvell was close to trading his FSU garnet for Alabama crimson.… pic.twitter.com/RoPSOaJneb
— On3 (@On3sports) March 6, 2024
According to Chris Low of ESPN, the Crimson Tide had such advanced conversations with Florida State coach Mike Norvell that the Seminoles began to plan for his departure. That would’ve meant making a run at Rebels leader Lane Kiffin.
“In fact, in the wee hours of that Friday morning, the fear among Florida State officials was that Norvell was close to trading his FSU garnet for Alabama crimson,” Low reported. “Sources told ESPN that Florida State was poised to move quickly if that happened and that Kiffin would be a prime candidate.”
Alabama Got Their Guy
The top two candidates were Kalen Deboer and Mike Norvell. ESPN commented that they had a 72-hour coaching cycle after Nick Saban’s retirement. That window moved to 49 hours once the coaching dominoes started falling.
Norvel pulled his name out of the running and parlayed the interest into a new deal and some upgrades for Florida State’s facilities.
“Shortly after that, news broke that Norvell had agreed to an extension on his contract to pay him more than $10 million annually over the next eight years. Part of the agreement reassured Norvell that more money would be committed to his football administrative staff and a larger recruiting budget. A new stand-alone football complex was already under construction, along with upgrades to the stadium.” According to On3.
Coaching Carousel
The ripple effect of Mike Norvel leaving FSU for Alabama would have left the college coaching world speechless. If Lane Kiffin had left Ole Miss, who would be Ole Miss’s next coach? These perennial powerhouses would have played musical chairs this entire coaching cycle.
“So while Washington, Arizona, and San Jose State are no slouches, Saban’s retirement creating an opening at Florida State, and then, in turn, creating an opening at Ole Miss would’ve been a massive shift in college football. Who knows where the Rebels would’ve turned and if they would’ve poached another big-name coach for their opening if Kiffin left.” According to On3.
Deboer Hired for Alabama
Kalen Deboer was hired very quickly. His meteoric rise was in media circles throughout the college football playoffs after he led the Washington Huskies to a National Championship after two years as their head coach.
Deboer commented on him, not knowing he was a candidate early on. “It wasn’t even on my radar, and I’m not sure it was on anybody’s radar,” DeBoer said. And immediately when it happened, people from all over started calling, and you’re getting all these questions. I guess I knew with everything we’d accomplished that you might have some inquiries about jobs—but not that one.”
After a quick interview process, he decided to join Alabama.
‘Washington’s Kalen DeBoer will replace Nick Saban as Alabama coach. Alabama announced on Friday night that it has tabbed Washington head coach Kalen DeBoer as the replacement for Nick Saban. DeBoer, 49, is a former NAIA coach who led Washington to the national championship game in just his second season,” according to Guardian.com.
Read More: College Football 14-Team Playoff Seems Imminent.
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