Kalen DeBoer explains why Washington staffer Courtney Morgan was on flight to Tuscaloosa

Friday night, Kalen DeBoer’s plane touched down in Tuscaloosa after he accepted the Alabama head coach position, and he received quite the welcome from the Crimson Tide faithful who came out to the airport. Shortly after he walked off the plane, Washington general manager Courtney Morgan followed, perhaps indicating a potential future with the program.

Morgan was a critical staffer the last two years at Washington under DeBoer. He was a key part of putting the roster together, meaning he was instrumental in building the Huskies team that made it to the College Football Playoff national championship earlier this week.

After his introductory press conference on Saturday, DeBoer was asked why Morgan was on the plane and said it came down to establishing a connection with the current roster.

“He’s just so tied into everyone in the recruiting world – players, staff members,” DeBoer said, via BOL’s Charlie Potter. “He knows a lot of this roster. There are parents of players on this roster that he’s got their numbers and talking with them right now, trying to probably allude to what we’re trying to accomplish right now and holding people in place and not getting too antsy.”

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

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.

His 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.”

As he prepares to take on the SEC at a top-tier program like Alabama, the staff will be important as DeBoer looks to fill Saban’s big shoes following his surprising decision to retire earlier this week. He said as much after his press conference, pointing out there will likely be a “tough of Washington,” there’s still a need for “SEC ties.”

“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.