After leading the Washington Huskies to a pair of successful seasons, Kalen DeBoer is now using his talents to coach the Alabama Crimson Tide. Turns out, though, there was something that made leaving his former team tougher than he thought.
DeBoer, the Crimson Tide’s new head coach this season, has an impressive coaching resume that has made him the perfect choice to replace the legendary Nick Saban. Before taking over the Alabama program, DeBoer built a remarkable coaching record of 104-12, including a recent stint as the head coach of the Washington Huskies, where he finished the 2022 and 2023 seasons with a combined record of 25-3.
Prior to his time at Washington, DeBoer served as the head coach of Fresno State from 2020 to 2021, where he led the team to a 12-2 record against top-25 opponents. Before his head coaching positions, DeBoer had successful stints at Eastern Michigan, Southern Illinois, and Sioux Falls, where he secured three NAIA National championships.
Analyst Joel Klatt has high praise for DeBoer, describing him as one of the most successful coaches in college football. Klatt believes that DeBoer’s “Tiger Woods-like” ability to win will translate well to the Alabama program, and he expects the Crimson Tide to make the College Football Playoff’s quarterfinals in the 2024 season, despite a potential “small step back” from their recent dominance.
Kalen DeBoer Admits Tough Call About Leaving Washington Huskies
Just recently, DeBoer appeared in an episode of Green Light with Chris Long, a production of Yote House Media, on YouTube and talked about his time in Washington and why it was hard leaving the Huskies.
“It’s the hardest thing I’ve had to do when it comes to coaching. When it comes to just the decisions and things you gotta share with people and especially with what we had just went through for two years, building it from what it was before we got there –– it was four and eight and in two years going to 25 and three. Again, it wasn’t about the wins, it was about the relationships there,” DeBoer said.
DeBoer, a former Sioux Falls wide receiver and head coach, became the head football coach at the University of Washington in 2022. His 2023 Huskies team reached the national championship game before he departed for Alabama. DeBoer’s coaching career has been marked by success, including three NAIA national titles at Sioux Falls and a Pac-12 championship at Washington.
Even though he made the tough call of leaving Washington, DeBoer has the chance to elevate Alabama to the next level as its head coach. If successful, his legacy as a coach will surely be cemented with those of the greats.
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