Alabama football rumors: Is Nick Saban's replacement clearing his schedule for Tide hire?

It may be bright and early over in Seattle, but Kalen DeBoer's days as the head coach of the Washington Huskies are almost certainly about to come to an end. DeBoer is one of the most well-respected head coaches in the industry. Certainly on the come-up in the national scope of major college football, he would be an ideal outside hire to replace Nick Saban as Alabama's next coach.

And that is what the tea leaves are telling me. Alabama needs to act swiftly to replace a legend. While they could have gone with a familiar face stemming off the Saban coaching tree, it might make more sense right now to go with a complete outside hire. One of the best candidates available would have to be the Washington head coach. I mean, he just led the Huskies to the College Football Playoff...

So besides an obvious need, why would he go there and what leads us to believe that he actually will? Well, DeBoer has not said no like other notable candidates have. His two best players are turning pro in quarterback Michael Penix Jr. and wide receiver Rome Odunze. But what is really important here is that DeBoer just canceled his regular appearance on Seattle radio on Friday morning. Buckle up, y'all!

Here is 93.3 KJR's message that DeBoer won't be making his regularly scheduled appearance Friday.

There is a ton of variance that could come from DeBoer going to Alabama, but we shall see.

Kalen DeBoer punting on a radio show means he is eying Alabama

There are other factors as to why DeBoer would consider making the leap cross-country. Washington is expected to pull back next year, even with Mississippi State transfer Will Rogers more than capable of filling Penix's big shoes. The other big thing is Washington is leaving the Pac-12 with four other schools to join the Big Ten. DeBoer has Indiana connections, but this move could be a daunting one.

And I think the other big factor here is Washington has a new athletic director. Jennifer Cohen left for USC last year. She was replaced by former Tulane athletic director Troy Dannen. Not to say they don't have a good working relationship, but Dannen isn't the one who hired DeBoer. Cohen did. With only a $12 million buyout, this feels like chump change for yet another Jimmy Sexton client. The shoe fits.

The big question is not if DeBoer will take the Alabama job, but who will he be bringing with him to Tuscaloosa from Seattle. One would think Huskies offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb would be an ideal candidate to replace him from within. Then again, Washington has a rough history of going in that direction. Jim Lambright was not Don James and Jimmy Lake was definitely not Chris Petersen.

The other big thing you have to ask yourself if you are an Alabama fan is if it is not DeBoer, then who?