Kalen DeBoer speaks to the importance of NFL Draft success in recruiting at Alabama

It has become tradition at Alabama to send a first-round draft pick or two each year to the NFL Draft. That continued this past cycle in the form of three first-rounders in Nick Saban’s final season leading the program.

The question many have asked since Kalen DeBoer has been appointed head coach is — will Alabama continue to be one of the most drafted programs on a near yearly basis?

“It’s always been a big part of the program here,” DeBoer said of Alabama’s massive presence in the NFL on the Jim Rome Show. “A lot of the developmental pieces were retained when you talk about the strength and conditioning piece, the training room piece, academics, player development. There are a lot of those pieces. Now, I added some of touches from the staff I had at Washington well, but the development has happened.

“You get to have guys in at a high level, but there’s so much more room that they can grow and that’s what these guys want. That’s why they come to Alabama is to reach that ceiling you’re talking about with the plans of going high in the draft, first round draft picks.”

With the amount of talent that DeBoer has retained, recruited and brought into the program through the transfer portal, if Alabama can succeed on the field — the film should speak for itself on draft night.

With the Huskies, DeBoer has lost just three games and was undefeated against ranked opponents until Washington lost to Michigan in the national championship game this past season. As a head coach, he’s 104-12 overall across all levels and has three NAIA National Championships to his credit, winning them in a four-year span between 2006-2009. After spending time as an assistant at Indiana, he became a head coach again in 2020 and coached Fresno State to a 9-3 season in 2021 before moving on to Washington.

During DeBoer’s last season at Washington, he also sent three first-rounders to the NFL in the form of QB Michael Penix Jr., WR Rome Odunze and OT Troy Fautanu. Seven more were drafted, including two each in the second and third rounds, totaling DeBoer’s NFL draftees to 10 — the same number as Alabama’s.

Nick Saban ultimately oversaw 133 NFL draft picks which included 47 first-rounders during his 17-year tenure. DeBoer has a while to catch up to any of Saban’s record-breaking numbers, but if his start at Washington is anything to go by — Crimson Tide fans may not have to worry about a decline in NFL Draft numbers under their first-year head coach.