Washington’s Kalen DeBoer was named Alabama’s coach on Friday.
That means DeBoer is officially the “guy after the guy.” Legendary coach Nick Saban, who won six national championships at Alabama through a dominant 17-year reign, retired Wednesday. DeBoer, 49, led Washington to the College Football Playoff championship in 2023. The Huskies lost 34-13 to No. 1 Michigan on Monday, but DeBoer increased his stock enough to get the Crimson Tide’s attention.
To ask DeBoer, 49, to duplicate what Saban accomplished with the Crimson Tide would be nonsense, especially with the current college football landscape and the advent of the 12-team College Football Playoff. Also, Saban is the GOAT of college football coaches.
That said, there is an expectation at Alabama to continue to be a top-five program in the new-look, 16-team SEC that welcomes Texas and Oklahoma in 2024. DeBoer was 37-9 between stops at Fresno State and Washington, and he totaled an unbelievable 67-3 record at Sioux Falls in the NAIA.
Can Alabama still be a top-five program with DeBoer?
Nick Saban made Alabama a top-five program
Saban coached at Alabama for 17 years with an unprecedented run through the Bowl Championship Series and CFP eras that included a 201-29 record and nine SEC championships.
So the question becomes: Is that the coach or the program?
The top 10 power conference programs in the CFP era by record are Alabama (127-14), Ohio State (115-15), Clemson (119-20), Georgia (114-22) and Oklahoma (102-39), followed closely by Michigan (94-32) and Notre Dame (95-33), Wisconsin (90-38), LSU (90-38) and Oregon (90-38).
The top 10 revenue schools from USA Today’s 2023 database were Texas, Ohio State, Alabama, Michigan, Georgia, LSU, Texas A&M, Florida, Penn State and Oklahoma.
So the schools that appeared on both lists are Alabama, Ohio State, Georgia, Michigan, LSU and Oklahoma. Those six schools would make up most top-five lists, with Texas (the record is low) and Notre Dame (revenue not disclosed) being considered top-five jobs with the right coach.
That is the machine that DeBoer inherits in Tuscaloosa, not to mention the history of Alabama coaches between Bryant and Saban.
MORE: Reflecting on Nick Saban’s historic coaching career
Alabama struggles after Bear Bryant
Bear Bryant’s final season at Alabama was in 1982. Bryant was 205-42-9 and won six national championships with Alabama.
There is precedent for the aftermath. The Crimson Tide sifted through six coaches between Bryant and Saban over a 24-year period. Gene Stallings won a national championship in 1992, but Alabama was an unstable program throughout most of that time.
Stallings, Ray Perkins, Bill Curry and Dennis Franchione all were fired after 10-win seasons. There was the Mike Price debacle, who was fired on May 4, 2004 with a 0-0 record, after “questionable behavior” in a topless bar.
A look at how those coaches fared:
| COACH | YEARS | W | L | T |
| Ray Perkins | 1983-86 | 32 | 15 | 1 |
| Bill Curry | 1987-89 | 26 | 10 | 0 |
| Gene Stallings* | 1990-96 | 62 | 25 | 0 |
| Mike DuBose | 1997-2000 | 24 | 23 | 0 |
| Dennis Franchione | 2001-02 | 17 | 8 | 0 |
| Mike Shula** | 2003-06 | 10 | 24 | 0 |
| Joe Kines*** | 2006 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
*Alabama vacated 8 wins and a tie in 1993
**Alabama vacated 16 wins from 2005-06
***Denotes interim coach
Before the wins were vacated, those coaches combined for a .668 winning percentage. What program does that compare to in the present day?
Florida after Steve Spurrier left. Spurrier was 122-27-1 with the Gators from 1990-2001 and won the program’s first national championship in 1996. He left to take the Washington job in the NFL, and the Gators have been hit-or-miss ever since.
The Gators have compiled a .660 winning percentage with six different coaches. Urban Meyer did win national championships in 2006 and 2008, but the Gators have struggled to maintain their place among the elite programs since he left.
That is the fate Alabama could have if DeBoer flops at Alabama.
MORE: Kalen DeBoer named Sporting News Coach of the Year
Can Kalen DeBoer maintain Alabama’s top-five billing?
DeBoer will face many challenges at Alabama from Day 1, starting with the transfer portal. Saban retired on Jan. 10, so Crimson Tide players have until Feb. 9 to enter the portal.
The first order – and it will take help from Saban – is to prevent a mass exodus before spring football.
How will DeBoer adjust to recruiting in the SEC? Washington had the No. 29 recruiting class according to 247Sports.com the last two seasons, which was a jump from No. 59 in 2022. In the SEC, however, a top-10 class is the minimum buy-in for future success. The fact that DeBoer is from Milbank, S.D., should not be a factor – it wasn’t for Saban. But he will have to shed that “outsider” label. Bryan Harsin was never able to do that at Auburn.
The SEC schedule will not be easy in 2024, but comparing this to Saban is not going to be productive. Saban went 4-4 in the SEC in his first season in 2007. He lost more than two conference games one time after that.
Yet DeBoer has enough to work with – and enough to gain – that Alabama still should be a contender for 12-team College Football Playoff spots for the foreseeable future. It is how DeBoer fares against top-five opponents that will determine whether the Crimson Tide maintain that status as a top-five program. Saban was 23-11 against top-five teams at Alabama.
That is the standard DeBoer faces for following “the guy.”
