Washington Huskies head coach Kalen DeBoer was not able to make a scheduled Seattle radio show appearance due to a meeting with Washington’s athletic director Troy Dannen.
We are discussing the latest on Coach DeBoer with @ChuckPowellKJR @BuckyJacobsen & @AshleyLolaRyan. As was just mentioned, Coach was unavailable this morning because he is meeting with UW AD Troy Dannen in person. We hope a deal can be reached soon. 🤞
Listen live here:…
— 93.3 KJR (@933KJR) January 12, 2024
DeBoer has emerged as one of the top candidates to replace Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban. Saban recently retired from Alabama after 17 seasons, and a successor has yet to be named. Saban won six national titles with Alabama, and has built one of the most recognizable brands in college football.
The fact that DeBoer is cancelling radio show appearances in Washington worries some fans that he could be taking the job.
Bro is gone.
— 2PAC CHAMPS (@99coug) January 12, 2024
We picked the wrong year to have a great year.
— Brian Barney (@phxbman) January 12, 2024
Oh, Doogs. I am real sorry. As a fan who’s seen two coaches get poached in the recent past, this smells a lot like the beginning of a goodbye tour. Make your peace and get excited about the future.
— SAINT FRANCIS E (@filterswept) January 12, 2024
Washington Huskies head coach Kalen DeBoer has had success everywhere he’s been
DeBoer was the coach of the Sioux Falls Cougars and the Fresno State Bulldogs before finding his way to the Washington Huskies. In two seasons with the Huskies, DeBoer is 25-3 with a national title game appearance.
When he was the coach at Sioux Falls, DeBoer went 67-3 and won three NAIA Championships. The only time he lost more than one game was his first year in 2005. He only spent two years at Fresno State, and he had them at 9-3 the year he left.
In an article from the Associated Press, the athletic director of Sioux Falls Willie Sanchez said he knew that DeBoer had the ability to be successful at a higher level.
“He’s a South Dakota boy, and it seems like in the Midwest people don’t want to leave and I can understand why,” Sanchez recalled. “I said, ‘Kalen, you have more ability and should go forward.’ He said he had some inquiries, and I told him he needed to look into those possibilities.”
Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban’s accomplishments will be hard to replicate, but Kalen DeBoer is up to the challenge
Nick Saban is widely considered to be the greatest head coach in college football history. He held this title years before he retired. He won seven national championships throughout his career, six of which were with the Crimson Tide.
Saban went 206-29 at Alabama, and won nine SEC championships. He produced 44 first-round draft picks, which is more first-round picks than losses. His only season with less than 10 wins was his first season, and he only had two seasons with less than 11 wins.
Saban has also produced one of the most storied coaching trees in the history of the sport. Coaches that worked with Saban in some capacity include (Note: this list is not fully inclusive):
- Kirby Smart
- Lane Kiffin
- Will Muschamp
- Jeremy Pruitt
- Mark Dantonio
- Jimbo Fisher
- Bill O’Brien
- Steve Sarkisian
- Jim McElwain
- Mel Tucker
- Billy Napier
- Mario Cristobal
- Mike Locksley
- Jason Garrett
- Dan Lanning
- Major Applewhite
- Brian Daboll
- Curt Cignetti
DeBoer has experience in leading a team to national championships, but he has not won one on the level in which Saban has won seven. DeBoer has also not competed in the SEC. Nothing about him taking the job has officially come out, but he has not expressed a desire to stay in the same way Florida State head coach Mike Norvell and Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian did this past week.
Great day to be a Florida State Seminole!! #BIGMAN coming to the #NoleFamily and #Tribe24 Future is bright in Tallahassee #KeepCLIMBing pic.twitter.com/FhLsqZRDwa
— Mike Norvell (@Coach_Norvell) January 11, 2024
— Steve Sarkisian (@CoachSark) January 12, 2024
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