Alabama Coach Kalen DeBoer Faces High Standard Replacing …

For most of Kalen DeBoer’s head coaching career, he has won nearly all his games in jobs that were under the radar. DeBoer, who turns 50 in October, didn’t receive widespread national attention until this past season when he led Washington to the College Football Playoff title game.

Now, after Alabama on Friday hired him to succeed the legendary Nick Saban, DeBoer will no longer be away from the spotlight. Quite the opposite. He will, fairly or not, be judged against the almost impossible standard that Saban set.

During his 17 years at Alabama, Saban led the Crimson Tide to a 201-29 record (87.4% winning percentage) and a record six national titles. He had more seasons where Alabama played in the national title game (nine) than seasons where they failed to play in the title game (eight). Alabama was No. 1 in the Associated Press poll for 109 weeks during Saban’s tenure, more than any program has ever had since the AP poll was launched in 1936. And the Crimson Tide accomplished all of that despite playing in the Southeastern Conference, the nation’s best league.

Saban is, by most measures, the best college football coach in history.

DeBoer may not have the same name recognition as Saban or some other high profile coaches like Georgia’s Kirby Smart, Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh or Clemson’s Dabo Swinney.

Still, DeBoer has an impressive resume, albeit one that isn’t common. He won an NAIA national title in 1996 as a player at the University of Sioux Falls and then won three more championships as the head coach at his alma mater, where he went 67-3 in five seasons.

In 2010, DeBoer was hired as the offensive coordinator at Southern Illinois, a Football Championship Subdivision program. He later held offensive coordinator roles at Eastern Michigan, Fresno State and Indiana before Fresno State hired him as head coach in 2020.