The college football forever changed upon Nick Saban announcing his retirement from the coaching profession. Not to say the Alabama dynasty is dead by any means, but the same voice on the sidelines for the last 17 years will not be there anymore. Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne acted swiftly to hire former Washington head coach Kalen DeBoer within 48 hours of Saban's retirement.
DeBoer could make an excellent coach for the Crimson Tide. He could carry on the winning tradition re-established in Tuscaloosa under Saban. Or he could go the path of Ray Perkins replacing a legend. Either way, DeBoer was always a candidate for the job opening once Saban announced his retirement. One by one, as other candidates removed themselves from the equation, there were two.
Okay, maybe three if you count Alabama's 30-something offensive coordinator Tommy Rees. It seemed like a two-man race for the job between DeBoer and Florida State head coach Mike Norvell. While Norvell opted to say put by accepting an eight-year extension worth $10 million annually, you have to wonder if he was actually Alabama's preferred choice in the matter. Was Norvell their guy?
Just read John Talty's latest on the matter for 247Sports, and I will let you be the judge of that.
Alabama football rumors: Kalen DeBoer may not have been first choice
Look. Even if Norvell (or Dan Lanning, or Steve Sarkisian) was Alabama's first choice, what difference does it make? Byrne, and even Saban himself, had an affinity for the offensive-minded head coach over in Washington State. He has won everywhere he has been, as illustrated by the Huskies playing Michigan for a national championship in what was the final four-team College Football Playoff on Monday night this past week.
From an X's and O's standpoint, I think the DeBoer hire is great. He helped make Michael Penix Jr. a college football legend at multiple stops. He will get the most out of the talent Alabama has. But from a recruiting standpoint, I am very skeptical about the hire in this sense. DeBoer is an outsider, just like Saban was coming back to college from the NFL. But even before that, Saban had won big at LSU.
I think, with the added resources he will have at Alabama over Washington, that could make all the difference for DeBoer. The problem is he is now swimming in a sea full of sharks with elite coaches like Hugh Freeze, Brian Kelly, Lane Kiffin, Steve Sarkisian and Kirby Smart all chomping at the bit, hoping to claim recruiting territory that had long belonged to Alabama. Norvell would have stopped it.
DeBoer may be a better coach, but Norvell's recruiting chops may have made for an easier transition.