Pete Thamel: Kalen DeBoer told Washington he’s likely to take Alabama head coach job

While pen has not been put to paper, Washington head coach Kalen DeBoer is poised to be the new Alabama head coach. Reportedly deep into negotiations with Alabama, DeBoer has informed the Washington administration that he intends to take the job with the Crimson Tide, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

At this point, though Washington has put together a decent counter offer, Thamel said he does not expect DeBoer to reverse course. He shared some more tidbits and insight on where things stand in a brief appearance on SportsCenter on Friday afternoon.

“Kalen DeBoer has indicated to the officials at the University of Washington that he’s likely to take the job at Alabama. It is not a done deal. It is not official. He has not resigned. But as Mark [Schlabach] and Chris [Low] and a bunch of us at ESPN have reported this today, this deal is in deep negotiations and it would be a stark reversal at this point if Kalen DeBoer does not end up as Alabama’s next head coach. The sides have been in discussions throughout today,” Thamel said.

Washington apparently put together an extension package for DeBoer that would’ve made him among the highest-paid coaches in the sport and more than doubled his current annual salary of $4.2 million.

But despite those efforts from the Huskies administration, Thamel indicated there’s not much standing between DeBoer and the Alabama job than a few details and signing the contract.

“Washington, I’ve been told by sources, made a concerted effort to try to keep DeBoer. They put together a package for seven years that would’ve made him one of the 10 highest-paid coaches in college football. DeBoer has gone 25-3 there. He obviously led Washington to an undefeated season until that loss in the national title game on Monday to Michigan. But as of now, Kalen DeBoer to Alabama is just basically requiring signatures for it to be finalized,” Thamel said. 

There’s also a question of how DeBoer fits at Alabama.

A South Dakota native, DeBoer has never coached south of the Mason-Dixon Line or east of the Mississippi River as a head coach. He has no distinct southern ties whatsoever. And while that blindspot, of sorts, will likely need addressing, Thamel noted winners like DeBoer — who is 104-12 as a head coach — can make it work in a lot of different places.

“Well, winners fit everywhere,” Thamel said. “That’s what we have to start with. Kalen DeBoer won at NAIA. He won at FCS. He won as a coordinator at Eastern Michigan, he won as a coordinator at Indiana. He won big as a head coach at Fresno. He has three NAIA national titles. He can flat-out coach football. So winning sells in Alabama, right? That’s the expectation that Nick Saban reset during his remarkable tenure there. There is sort of a cultural gap that he will have to bridge. He’s never been in that footprint of the country. Kalen DeBoer has not recruited at that high, high, high-end level. Does Alabama have the resources, infrastructure, collective in place to support him?”

That, Thamel posited, is the biggest challenge. Because no matter how successful he might’ve been or could be, DeBoer isn’t Saban or likely to live up to his lofty standard.

“Because look, he’s not Nick Saban. There was what, 44 first round picks that went to Alabama? Nick Saban and Alabama sold itself because of its success. It’s a different sell now with Kalen DeBoer. So the support will really have to be there for him in order to uphold the impossible standard of the greatest coach of all time,” Thamel said.