The Michigan Wolverines may have won the national championship Monday night, but the Alabama Crimson Tide football program has dominated the headlines all week long. Seemingly out of nowhere, [autotag]Nick Saban[/autotag] retired from the game Wednesday evening leaving Alabama fans lost in a void of emotion. However, Athletic Director Greg Byrne didn’t panic as he calmly told the fan base to give him 72 hours to figure it out – it took less than 48.
Ultimately, Byrne went with Washington’s [autotag]Kalen DeBoer[/autotag] who led the Huskies to a 14-1 season and national championship appearance. Rumors were floating all along as to who the top target was, but DeBoer was always Byrne’s No. 1 choice per Chris Low, even above Sark and Lanning. By Friday evening, Byrne had DeBoer on a plane back to Tuscaloosa with a strong chance at keeping some of the 2023 Alabama roster intact. Despite never coaching in the South, people nationwide seemed to unanimously agree it was a home run hire for the Alabama program.
One of the people highest on the Crimson Tide’s new hire was CBS Sports’s Josh Pate. There aren’t many people who have a better finger on the pulse in the SEC than Pate and he shared his thoughts saying, “Do you know the game? Kalen DeBoer does. Are you a winner? Yes, he has been quite literally everywhere he has gone… Kalen DeBoer is a winner. He is a hard worker. Therefore, he will not resist what it takes to recruit in the South. He will endear himself to people, and as a result he’s a fit, because when you win, you fit anywhere.”
Kalen DeBoer will fit at Alabama because “fit” is a badly misunderstood term in coaching hires pic.twitter.com/m3Fbms3Sud
— Josh Pate (@LateKickJosh) January 12, 2024
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