Fresno State was on Kalen DeBoer’s path to becoming Alabama’s coach.

Fresno State was on Kalen DeBoer’s path to becoming Alabama’s coach.

This past season, Kalen DeBoer led Washington to a Pac-12 title and a spot in the College Football Playoff National Championship game. On Friday night, Alabama revealed that DeBoer would be their new head coach.

Nick Saban, who was at Alabama for 17 years and led the teams to nine SEC wins and six national championships, is leaving the school. DeBoer, 49, will take over one of the most prized and hardest jobs in college football. Saban quit on Wednesday. He had a 206–29 record as a coach at Alabama.

“I have always had a lot of admiration for Alabama football or its dedication to being the best,” DeBoer said in a school statement. At 2 p.m. ET on Sunday in Tuscaloosa, there will be a news gathering to present DeBoer.

“There is no other college sports program with as many traditions as this one, and I’m excited to keep that going in the years to come.” It is an honor to follow Coach Saban. He set the bar for college football, and no one has ever been as successful as he is.

I wouldn’t quit Washington for any school. The chance to be in charge of the football team at the University of Alabama comes once in a lifetime. We’re so grateful to be able to move to Tuscaloosa with our family. We’re excited to live there.

ESPN has learned that DeBoer told his Washington teammates and coaches on Friday afternoon that he had left for Alabama. He will meet the new team at a meeting on Friday night at 10 p.m. ET.

Sources told ESPN’s Pete Thamel that Troy Dannen, the athletic director at Washington, tried hard to keep DeBoer by offering him a new deal that would have put him one of the ten highest-paid coaches within the FBS, as it more than doubled his present pay of $4.2 million a year.

But DeBoer turned down the offer to play for Alabama or the SEC. As a result, he will have to pay Washington $12 million to get out of the deal after taking an extra two years in November that will keep him there until the 2028 season.

DeBoer became the Crimson Tide’s top choice before Oregon’s Dan Lanning, Florida State’s Mike Norvell, and Texas’ Steve Sarkisian pulled from the running for coach and made promises to stay at their current schools over the past two days.

“He has shown that he is a winner as well as having done a great job as a head coach at all of his stops,” said Greg Byrne, the sports director for the Crimson Tide.

“I recently told my team that we are going to hire a coach who is not only good at the rules but also cares about his players. I want my sons to play for this coach, just like I wanted Coach Saban’s sons to play for him.”

That’s what Coach DeBoer gave us. He is ready to work, and we are excited for him to lead the Alabama Crimson Tide football team for many years to come.

Soon after Jimmy Lake took over as coach of the Huskies in 2021, they went 4-8 and hired DeBoer to fix the team.

With Indiana graduate Michael Penix Jr. running Washington’s fast-paced offense, the Huskies overdoubled their win total in 2022 when they went 11-2.

Washington beat Oregon 34-31 in the Pac-12 championship game to advance to the College Football Playoff for the second time in school history.

During the regular season, they went 12-0. In a CFP playoff on New Year’s Day at the Allstate Sugar Bowl, the Huskies beat Texas 37–31.

Alabama quickly hired Kalen DeBoer, the coach at Washington, to replace Nick Saban. The news came out on Friday, just two days after the renowned Saban quit after 17 years as head coach.

DeBoer has become one of the best college football coaches in just two years at Washington, where he has led the Huskies to a 25-3 record, two top-10 finishes, and a Pac-12 championship.

This past season, they went 14-1 but lost 34-13 to Michigan in the semifinals of the College Football Playoff National Championship.

Before becoming a head coach, DeBoer was an assistant coach in Division I at Southern Illinois, Eastern Michigan, Fresno State, and Indiana. He led his home school, Sioux Falls, to three NAIA national titles and 67 wins over five seasons.

He then became the coach at Fresno State before the 2020 season. Before the 2022 season, he became the coach at Washington. DeBoer has a great record of 104-12 (.897) across all classes.