Can UW Huskies keep Kalen DeBoer? CFP insider thinks Alabama will get him

Kalen DeBoer just led the UW Huskies to a national championship game appearance, and with only three losses in 28 games during his two years with the Dawgs, it stands to reason that he is going to be a hot commodity for any big-time program looking for a new head coach.

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Does that mean football fans in Seattle are in for a second shocker this coaching cycle? Buckle up, Huskies, because things look like they’re about to get bumpy.

A day after the Seattle Seahawks made the tough decision to remove Pete Carroll from head coach, attention is shifting to the status of DeBoer – especially after a college football insider made a proclamation Thursday morning that should scare any UW fan that is hoping DeBoer will stay on Montlake.

Powerhouse Alabama, which along with Washington was one of the four teams in the College Football Playoff this month, is looking for a new head coach after the legendary Nick Saban announced his retirement Wednesday. FOX analyst Joel Klatt joined “The Herd” on Thursday and shared what he knows about the Alabama situation and who he thinks is going to succeed Saban.

Sorry Dawgs, these quotes are going to be uncomfortable.

"I'm actually going to be pretty surprised if Kalen DeBoer is not the next coach at Alabama."

— @joelklatt pic.twitter.com/RGpMlRsqgk

— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) January 11, 2024

“This guy is a guy that I think has been looking – quietly,” Klatt said of DeBoer in his conversation on Colin Cowherd’s FS1 show. “One of the reasons I think that he has been looking is not anything negative about Washington other than he’s not working right now for the person who hired him. Jen Cohen was the athletic director that hired him at Washington; she’s now the athletic director at USC.”

That is a pretty strong point. Cohen left UW in August, with Troy Dannen being hired away from Tulane by Washington in October to be the school’s new AD.

Something else worth knowing: DeBoer switched his representation to high-powered agent Jimmy Sexton last year, and as Klatt explained, Sexton will be especially in control this coaching cycle. And since one of Sexton’s other clients, Oregon coach Dan Lanning, has said he’s not leaving Eugene, that adds to the likelihood that DeBoer could be Alabama’s target.

“This is what I do know: Jimmy Sexton is going to control this search, every bit of it, because he controls every chess piece on the board,” Klatt said. “He represents (Texas head coach) Steve Sarkisian, he represents Dan Lanning, he represents Kalen DeBoer, he represents Mike Norvell at Florida State, Dabo Sweeney at Clemson, James Franklin at Penn State. So he will try to slow-play this as long as Alabama will allow him so that he can get every one of his clients the raise that they feel like they deserve. So he’s going to try to play it slow, Alabama is going to try to go quickly.”

And if Alabama wants to make a decision as soon as it can?

“In my estimation, the most logical candidate in terms of the expediency, in terms of the way they want to operate, is Kalen DeBoer,” Klatt said. “I’m actually going to be pretty surprised if Kalen DeBoer is not the next coach at Alabama.”

In an article by Klatt published later Thursday on FOXSports.com, he added this:

Alabama wants to get this done quickly. I’ve been told Alabama wanted to get this search done within 72 hours of Wednesday’s announcement (of Saban’s retirement), regardless of name, because it wants to solidify the locker room.

That’s why I believe DeBoer is the most logical candidate in this process with how quickly Alabama wants to operate.

(Gulp.)

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