There was speculation Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer could leave for the Michigan opening if he lost to Oklahoma in the first round of the College Football Playoff.
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After the Crimson Tide defeated the Sooners 34-24, there was still chatter DeBoer could leave for the Wolverines if Alabama lost to No. 1 Indiana in the CFP quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl.
However, Michigan didn’t wait for the Jan. 1 bowl game, hiring former Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham on Dec. 26 to ensure the program had a plan before the transfer portal opened up on Friday.
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DeBoer and Alabama have reportedly been in talks over a contract extension for the second-year head coach ever since his name was tied to Penn State. Nothing has come to fruition.
Following the Crimson Tide’s 38-3 loss to Indiana in the Rose Bowl, ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum predicted that DeBoer will still receive a contract extension despite a lopsided result against the Hoosiers that made the fan base in Tuscaloosa angry.
“I’m not saying Kalen DeBoer is gone,” Finebaum said on ESPN’s “First Take” Friday morning. “I mean, come on. He’ll probably get a contract extension because he didn’t go to Michigan. But there are very few Alabama fans today who believe he can win a national championship.
“And as all of you know, Alabama is not judged by looking good and by winning 10 games. They are judged by national championships, and that’s the concern today, that he can’t do it.”
DeBoer is 20-8 overall and 12-4 in SEC play during his first two seasons with Alabama.
College football insider Ben Dogra told Newsweek previously that there is a concern about DeBoer’s ability to connect to recruits in the South. For that reason, it remains unclear how long DeBoer plans to stay in Tuscaloosa.
“Kalen DeBoer is not really a coach built for the South–not that he can’t do it,” Dogra said. “But my point is, when you go into living rooms in the South, it’s a little bit different than if you’re recruiting a kid from the Northwest versus the Midwest and the East Coast.
“It’s different. It’s a different cultural bringing up. And I think he’s had a little bit more of a difficult time connecting.”
It’ll be interesting to see what kind of terms Alabama is offering DeBoer after the loss on Thursday.
Indiana outplayed the Crimson Tide at every phase of the game, triggering an automatic contract negotiation for Hoosiers head coach Curt Cignetti, who stands to become one of the sport’s top-three highest-paid coaches.
For more on the NCAA, head to Newsweek Sports.
