Just two days after Nick Saban announced his retirement, the University of Alabama has a new head coach. On Friday, the school named Kalen DeBoer to lead the Crimson Tide.
DeBoer, winner of the 2023 Associated Press, AFCA, Eddie Robinson, George Munger, Walter Camp, and Home Depot Coach of the Year awards, comes to Tuscaloosa after spending the last two seasons at Washington.
“I have always had an incredible respect for Alabama football and its commitment to excellence,” DeBoer said. “The tradition-rich history of this program is unmatched across the landscape of college athletics, and I look forward to continuing that moving forward.”
DeBoer called following Coach Saban “an honor” and says he would not have left Washington “for just any school.”
“The chance to lead the football program at The University of Alabama is the opportunity of a lifetime.”
In his nine seasons as a head coach, the 49-year-old DeBoer has won 104 games while only losing 12, which includes a 25-3 record with the Huskies. In 2023, he led Washington to the College Football Playoff National Championship Game, won the Pac-12 Championship and recorded the most wins in a season in program history (14).
DeBoer became the first Washington coach to win 11 or more games in consecutive seasons after going 11-2 in 2022 and 14-1 in 2023 and the first to win a bowl game in his first season with the Huskies. That success resulted in back-to-back Pac-12 Coach of the Year honors. His Washington squads also went 10-1 vs. ranked teams, and he’s 18-3 in playoff games as a head coach.
Prior to taking over at Washington, DeBoer spent two seasons at Fresno State, going 12-6 and leading the Bulldogs to the 2021 New Mexico Bowl. His first head-coaching stop was at his alma mater, the University of Sioux Falls, where he spent five seasons (2005-09) at the helm going 67-3 with three NAIA national titles and three national Coach of the Year awards.
Other coaching stops for DeBoer include Indiana (2019 – Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks), Fresno State (2017-18 – Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks), Eastern Michigan (2014-16 – Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks), Southern Illinois (2010-13 – Offensive Coordinator/Wide Receivers), Sioux Falls (2000-04 – Offensive Coordinator; 1997 – Wide Receivers) and Washington HS (1998-99 – Assistant Coach).
“We are excited to welcome Kalen and Nicole DeBoer, and their daughters, Alexis and Avery, to The University of Alabama,” said University of Alabama Director of Athletics Greg Byrne. “Coach DeBoer has proven he is a winner and has done an incredible job as a head coach at each of his stops.”
The terms of DeBoer’s contract are still pending approval by the University of Alabama Board of Trustees.
