Kalen DeBoer: Alabama coaching staff will have 'a touch of Washington,' but needs 'SEC ties'

As Kalen DeBoer settles in as Alabama’s head coach — and Nick Saban’s replacement — the first step will be filling out his staff after arriving from Washington. Considering he’s never coached in the SEC, that will be important as he gets ready to recruit at the level Crimson Tide fans are used to seeing.

After his introductory press conference, DeBoer discussed his plans for his staff. He noted there’d be some semblance of his staff at UW, but he plans to get some connections to the SEC, as well.

“Certainly have a strong feeling of what I’d like to do. … There will be a touch of Washington in there, but I understand there needs to be some SEC ties, some southeast ties that can help bridge the gap,” DeBoer said, via BOL’s Charlie Potter.

Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne confirmed he and DeBoer had conversations about the staff, but he’ll ultimately leave it up to the coach. He also didn’t rule out keeping some of the current staffers in place, although again, it’s DeBoer’s call.

“If I don’t have the confidence in the head coach to manage their staff then I’ve got the wrong head coach, right?” Byrne said.

A name already circulating from DeBoer’s Washington staff is Courtney Morgan. He was the Huskies’ general manager the last two seasons, and got off the plane with DeBoer and his family when he landed in Tuscaloosa late Friday night.

Morgan was one of DeBoer’s first hires at Washington after leaving Fresno State, initially joining Washington as director of player personnel. That was the position he held at Michigan, helping lead the Wolverines to their first-ever College Football Playoff appearance as part of a turnaround season under Jim Harbaugh.

How Courtney Morgan could be a key part of Kalen DeBoer’s plan at Alabama

Morgan’s fingerprints were all over both programs during Monday’s national championship. He helped bring in some of the big-time talent at Michigan and Washington, and it made for some conflicting emotions heading into the matchup, as he told The Athletic.

In fact, Will Johnson — who went on to win defensive player of the game — talked about Morgan’s impact during media day.

“Courtney’s the GOAT,” Johnson told reporters. “He did a lot for this program when he was here, recruited guys like Mason [Graham] and [Kenneth Grant], found guys like that that nobody really knew about and got them on our team. He’s one of the people that helped build the program to where it is now and issue it’s one of the reasons why Washington is here, too.

“He’s the undercover guy that’s doing everything behind the scenes.”

DeBoer’s staff will likely take shape over the next couple weeks as he settles in at Alabama. On the field, the results have been nothing short of impressive during his short time at Washington. The Huskies went 25-3 under DeBoer’s watch and made the national championship in 2023, just two years after a 4-8 campaign under the previous regime.

Thomas Goldkamp contributed to this report.