Kalen DeBoer explains how he learned Alabama was interested in him

When Nick Saban announced his retirement, Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne asked the team to give him 72 hours to find the next head coach. He delivered on his promise and then some, finishing around the 48-hour mark. Kalen DeBoer was the selection of Byrne, choosing him to be the Crimson Tide’s next leader.

The entire process moved quickly as DeBoer recently reflected. Byrne did not waste much time heading out West to meet with the former Washington head coach. A meeting occurred on Thursday before a final decision was made on Friday.

“Late, late, late Wednesday night, my agent let me know that Greg Byrne wanted to meet,” DeBoer said. “It was literally the next day they brought a plane up. It was that fast. No gaging of interest other than ‘Would you be interested in meeting?’

“That was that Wednesday night. Thursday, interviewed. Friday, got offered the job, accepted it, and Friday night, was here meeting with the team. It was fast.”

DeBoer is outlining just the coaching search aspect but there was so much more to the transition than that. He was just around 48 hours from having his 2023 season ending with Washington after a loss to Michigan in the national championship. The game was played on Monday and the Huskies flew back to Seattle on Tuesday morning.

Alabama’s season ended about a week prior on Jan. 1 at the Rose Bowl vs. Michigan. Saban was going through the process of reworking his coaching staff before announcing his retirement to Byrne and the entire program.

The hiring process had to go by in a flash while the rest of the offseason was eight long months of offseason talk. DeBoer was eager to get his team on the field and since then, three games have blown by as Alabama is off to an undefeated start.

Now, he can get a staple win early in his tenure as Georgia comes to Tuscaloosa. Byrne hired DeBoer for these type of games and can see his quick decision pay off in a big way on Saturday.