Why Alabama chose Kalen DeBoer and what’s next for Washington
Kalen DeBoer has a tough act to follow.
Alabama will name DeBoer its next head coach, sources told ESPN on Friday, replacing Nick Saban and his more than 200 wins and six national titles at the school.
DeBoer, 49, is 105-12 as a head coach and was named AP Coach of the Year at Washington last season on his way to the national championship game.
Now he must transition into a tougher-than-ever SEC that adds Texas and Oklahoma next season.
Why did the Tide choose DeBoer to lead the next era of Alabama football? And what’s next for Washington? We answer some of the most pressing questions about the move.
Why did Alabama choose DeBoer?
Over and above everything else, Alabama wanted a proven winner, and DeBoer has won everywhere he has been. He has won 11 or more games in seven of his nine seasons as a head coach. He took Washington to a Pac-12 championship and the College Football Playoff National Championship game in his second season at U-Dub.
Two of the other guys mentioned prominently in the Alabama coaching search, Dan Lanning and Steve Sarkisian, were a combined 0-5 against DeBoer over the past two seasons. DeBoer’s offenses were electric. The Huskies ranked 13th nationally in scoring this season and sixth in 2022. They averaged at least 36 points per game in both seasons, and look at the way quarterback Michael Penix Jr. blossomed under DeBoer at Washington.
It was important for Alabama to get someone with vast head-coaching experience. DeBoer has been a head coach in the Pac-12, at Fresno State and in the Division II ranks with Sioux Falls. — Chris Low
What will be the biggest challenge for DeBoer?
Roster retention is going to be priority No. 1. A mass exodus of players to the portal could be crippling, especially since the ability to backfill won’t happen again until the portal reopens for non-graduates in the spring. Even then, most of the big names already made their moves. But setting aside that immediate concern, far and away the biggest challenge will be expectations. Not just wins and losses, but constantly being compared to Saban and how he did things.
While there’s no tower a la Bear Bryant to take down, DeBoer will have to walk a fine line implementing his process without appearing to step on Saban’s capital-P Process. Change too many things too quickly and the fan base and boosters might revolt. And in today’s game of NIL, you have to keep the donations coming. — Alex Scarborough
What is DeBoer’s first order of business regarding the roster?
DeBoer has some positives working in his favor when it comes to the roster. The first is that we just went through the early signing period and all but six of Alabama’s original commitments enrolled early.
Classes have already started at Alabama, which means the prospects in the 2024 class who enrolled early can’t be released from their national letters of intent; they would have to transfer to leave. To do that, players would use their one-time transfer, but also need to get admitted and enroll at a new school.
That could prove difficult, with different institutions having different schedules, and players might have to wait until summer to enroll.
DeBoer needs to ensure that the elite players who just signed want to stay and would fit in his system. The key member of that class is five-star quarterback Julian Sayin, who was the No. 1 quarterback and the No. 3 overall prospect in the cycle. For depth, talent and competition, keeping Sayin on the roster is imperative.
He could be the quarterback of the future and make the transition a lot easier for DeBoer. He can show Sayin the success he had with Michael Penix Jr. and try to convince Sayin that he could do the same for him.
The next order of business would be evaluating the roster and ensuring any players that he wants to stay know that they are wanted. The players have a 30-day window to enter the transfer portal and explore other options. The players at Washington would also have a 30-day window to enter the portal since DeBoer left, so if there are some he thinks could help him win at Alabama, he could try to bring them with him.
Alabama’s roster is already filled with stars and elite players, so there shouldn’t be much of a weeding-out process. He’s inheriting a team that won an SEC championship and made it to the College Football Playoff, so his main goal needs to be retention and maintaining status quo, while adding players to supplement an already excellent roster. — Tom VanHaaren
What is Saban’s new role at Alabama and how does it affect DeBoer?
Saban’s role and/or presence will be with the entire university, not just the football program. His office is going to be at Bryant-Denny Stadium, which means he won’t be chatting up coaches or players in the football complex and poking his head in the film room. Besides, that’s not his style.
Saban wants no part of being the former coach looking over somebody’s shoulder, but will always be open to giving his advice when asked. What he wants is to be a resource any way he can for the entire university in any number of ways. He has made it clear how much Alabama means to him and his wife, Terry. But he’s not going to be hanging around all the time, and the reality is that whoever the new coach was going to be at Alabama, Saban’s immense shadow was always going to be lurking, whether Saban was physically present or not. — Low
Should Alabama expect to contend for a national title next season?
The expectation won’t change just because Saban is gone. And next season, why should it? Assuming the key players from last season don’t bolt for the portal (Jalen Milroe, Caleb Downs, Deontae Lawson and Kadyn Proctor, to name a few), this team still has what it takes to contend for an SEC title. If not for defensive breakdowns late against Michigan, the Tide hold on to win the Rose Bowl and maybe send Saban out with a championship. And remember, the playoff is expanding, so even without a conference championship next season, you can still get in.
But the challenge will be significant, setting aside the difficulties that will accompany a coaching transition. Georgia and LSU aren’t going anywhere, Ole Miss is making a big push and Texas is coming into the conference with title expectations of its own. — Scarborough
What should Washington prioritize in its coaching search?
For UW, it’s simple: Ryan Grubb should be elevated from offensive coordinator to head coach immediately. If you are reading this and new UW athletic director Troy Dannen hasn’t already hired Grubb to replace DeBoer, he’s moving too slowly.
DeBoer deserves all the credit he’s received for what he’s accomplished in coaching, but Grubb has been with him nearly every step of the way (Sioux Falls, Eastern Michigan, Fresno State and UW). When Washington players talk about the offense and why it has been so successful, Grubb is the one they describe as the “mad genius” or with some other kind of similarly flattering name.
He was the playcaller, he was the one who worked most closely with QB Michael Penix Jr. and he should be options A, B and C to replace DeBoer. This isn’t the same as Jimmy Lake inheriting the program from Chris Petersen. Grubb is ready. Building a staff will be a challenge because DeBoer and Grubb will inevitably want to lean on some of the same guys, but there will be a line of talented coaches who want to be in Seattle. — Kyle Bonagura
Did DeBoer do enough to set up UW for sustained success as it enters the Big Ten?
With lax transfer rules in college football now, what’s left behind doesn’t matter as much as it once did. In theory, DeBoer’s exit could lead to an exodus. That’s the way the sport is structured.
What he does leave behind is an energized fan and donor base that — after getting a taste of the good life — should be more willing to help strengthen the school’s NIL opportunities than two years ago. If it wasn’t already understood, DeBoer showed UW has the infrastructure to compete at the highest level in the sport and that goes a long way in recruiting.
With most of its key players set to depart, there was already an expectation UW was going to take a step back next year as it moves to the Big Ten. But that was just part of the natural ebb and flow for a program that leaned on so many veteran players. — Bonagura
-
Ryan S. Clark
Many of Mikko Rantanen’s greatest moments have come in a Colorado Avalanche sweater. It’s just that the most defining moment of his career came at their expense.
It wasn’t enough that the Dallas Stars were trailing by two goals. It was also the fact that Rantanen scored a hat trick in a string of four unanswered goals that saw his current team, the host Stars, eliminate his old team, the Avalanche, in a 4-2 win Saturday in Game 7 of the Western Conference quarterfinals at the American Airlines Center.
“Obviously, the feeling was incredible to win a series,” Rantanen said in his postgame media availability. “This series was not exactly what I expected. I expected a seven-game series, even before Game 1. The ups and downs in the series. … Belief was there with the group the whole time. Obviously, I was able to make a pay to get the first one and the crowd started to roll.”
The Stars, attempting to reach the conference finals a third straight time, will advance to the semifinal round in which they will await the winner of series featuring the St. Louis Blues and Winnipeg Jets. That encounter will be decided Sunday in Game 7 in Winnipeg.
Soon, the Stars’ collective focus will shift to another Central Division foe. But for now? The attention before, during, and after the game, was on Rantanen.
Part of what made the Avalanche-Stars series arguably the most intriguing first-round series in either conference was the fact it placed two 100-point teams that are in championship window against each other. But, it also came with several subplots with the notable being the team that traded quite a bit to land Rantanen — with the hope he could win them a Stanley Cup now — needed him to defeat the team that he won a championship with back in 2022.
With one assist through the first four games, there was a discussion about if the Stars could manage to win with a sputtering Rantanen on top of the fact they were already without two of their best players in defenseman Miro Heiskanen and forward Jason Robertson.
Rantanen responded with a three-point performance in Game 5, and a four-point performance in Game 6 only to then have a hand in each goal on Saturday. His first goal came on the power-play with 12:12 remaining in the third period when he found enough space to fire a wrist shot that beat MacKenzie Blackwood.
Then came the game-tying goal and the significance it carried. The Stars went on the power play went Avalanche forward Jack Drury was called for holding. Drury part of the trade package the Carolina Hurricanes used to get Rantanen in late January before they would trade him to the Stars.
Drury’s penalty opened the door for Rantanen to score a game-tying goal that might be one of, if not, his signature salvo. Rantanen skated into the Avalanche zone in a 1-on-3 before he split two players before going around the net for a wrap-around goal that went off the skate of Samuel Girard with 6:14 left.
Three minutes later, the Stars received another power-play opportunity that saw Rantanen along with another former Avalanche forward in Matt Duchene work together to find Wyatt Johnston for the game-winning goal.
In the final minute, the Avalanche pulled Blackwood in the attempt to grab a late goal and force over time. Instead? Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger withstood a barrage that officially ended when Stars forward Tyler Seguin got the puck out of the zone only for Rantanen to skate in on an open net for the hat trick with three seconds left.
“I couldn’t care less who scored for them, I really couldn’t,” Avalanche captain and left winger Gabriel Landeskog said when asked about what it was like to watch Rantanen score a hat trick. “Mikko is one of my best friends and I love him, but I couldn’t care if he scored or if somebody else scored.”
For eight full seasons, Rantanen was part of a homegrown movement that saw the Avalanche go from finishing with what was then the worst record in the salary cap era back in 2016-17 to become a perennial favorite to win the Stanley Cup, which did they did in 2023, while also becoming a model for the need to build through the draft.
Building through stars such as Cale Makar, Nathan MacKinnon, Landeskog and Rantanen allowed the Avalanche to become a success. As did the moves they made to get other key figures like Valeri Nichushkin and Devon Toews.
Like all teams in a championship window, the Avs were facing the prospect of possibly making a difficult decision. They had yet to agree to a new contract with Rantanen, who was a pending unrestricted free agent. Then, came the blockbuster trade that few throughout the league saw coming.
The Avalanche traded Rantanen in a three-team trade that saw them get Martin Necas and Drury along with two draft picks. Rantanen’s time with the Carolina Hurricanes was limited to just two goals and six points in 13 games.
Despite the fact the Hurricanes are also among that cadre of championship contenders, Rantanen struggled to find cohesion in Raleigh. Rather than run the risk of watching leave for nothing in free agency, the Hurricanes put out feelers to a few teams with the Stars being one of them.
A long-time admirer of Rantanen, the Stars packaged two first-round picks, three second-round picks and former prized prospect Logan Stankoven to get Rantanen. They then signed him to an eight-year contract worth $12 million annually.
“It’s two things: It’s where our team’s at, and it’s Mikko Rantanen,” Stars general manager Jim Nill told ESPN back in March.
Rantanen finished the regular season with five goals and 18 points in 20 games prior to the showdown with his former team.
Not only did Rantanen’s hat trick condemn his former team to their second first-round exit since winning the Stanley Cup, but it continued a theme of former Avalanche eliminating their previous employers.
The Avalanche and Stars faced each other in last season’s Western Conference semifinal that saw Duchene, a former Colorado first-round pick, score the game-winning goal.
A year later, it was another former Avalanche first-round pick who delivered the devastating blow.
“It seems pretty fitting,” Johnston said about Rantanen. “Obviously, we want to win for each other and I think that goes a little extra when it’s a guy like that who is such a big part of our team and was there for a long time and everyone knows the trade that went on. It’s so awesome. We’re so happy as a group for him.”
As if Rantanen scoring a hat trick in a four-goal comeback wasn’t enough, there’s also the fact that this is now the ninth consecutive Game 7 that Stars coach Peter DeBoer has won his career.
DeBoer’s nine wins in Game 7s broke a tie with Darryl Sutter for the most in NHL history. It was also DeBoer’s third game 7 wins with the Stars.
“I felt something was going to happen,” DeBoer said. “But I could not have predicted that.”
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway