When Nick Saban announced his retirement, everyone was quick to throw three names out as the successor at Alabama: Washington’s Kalen DeBoer, Oregon’s Dan Lanning and Texas’ Steve Sarkisian. Only one of those names has “confirmed” that they aren’t interested in the position and that was Dan Lanning. There are assumptions that Sarkisian has declined, but no reports have come out to verify that.
On Thursday, Fox CFB Analyst Joel Klatt met with Colin Cowherd to discuss the opening at Alabama.
“I was told that this was going to happen within 72 hours,” Klatt stated. “Regardless of name, they wanted to move quickly so that they could solidify the locker room.”
Finding the replacement quickly, not only shows the inherited players that you are committed, but it allows them the chance to decide for their future. Do they want to play for the new coach or look to enter the transfer portal? It also becomes crucial because of the incoming recruits.
“The third name on that list is Kalen DeBoer, the reason for that is because the other names that would be prominent on that list. Names like Dabo Swinney, Ryan Day, Lincoln Riley, or Kirby Smart. They don’t make a lot of sense for one reason or another.”
No matter who Alabama chooses, it’s clear that they would like to continue their winning ways. The program has been successful for 17 years under Saban. That shouldn’t change, no matter how high the expectations will be.
“Kalen DeBoer does (make sense for Alabama). He’s 104-12 as a head coach, it’s wild how successful he’s been as a head coach. You’re exactly right, he did more with a lesser roster than even Lanning did at Oregon. So this is a guy that I think has been looking, quietly.”
The biggest reason that DeBoer may look to move on is that the AD who hired him, Jen Cohen, no longer works at Washington. She is now the Athletic Director at USC. Jimmy Sexton is another piece that will play a huge factor in who lands at Alabama. He represents a lot of the top-tier coaches in College Football today.
The most recent reports have stated that the decision is currently between DeBoer and Florida State’s Mike Norvell.
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