Kalen DeBoer leaves Washington and becomes Alabama’s new head football coach

Alabama athletics director Greg Byrne went to the Pac-12 to start the post Nick Saban era for the Crimson Tide.

Kalen DeBoer of Washington is expected to be the next Crimson Tide head football coach. DeBoer, 49, spent two years with the Huskies (2022-23) as its head coach and is one of the best offensive minds in college football. Washington was a train wreck before DeBoer arrived in 2022. The program went 4-8 in 2021, but the South Dakota native quickly turned things around.

Close sources confirmed the news to Touchdown Alabama Magazine on DeBoer.

Washington went 11-2 in his first season and earned a 14-1 record in 2023. DeBoer led the Huskies to a Pac-12 Championship and its first College Football Playoff appearance since 2016. Washington defeated Texas in the Sugar Bowl (CFP Semifinal matchup) and faced Michigan for the CFP National Championship. The Huskies fell to the Wolverines; however, DeBoer got the program back relevant.

He was a head coach at Fresno State for two years (2020-21), guiding the Bulldogs to a 12-6 record. DeBoer spent five years (2005-09) at Sioux Falls, compiling a 67-3 record — including three undefeated NAIA Championship seasons. 

People may look at him as a move out of left field, but DeBoer is Byrne’s choice to push the Tide into the post Saban era.