When Nick Saban decided to retire, Alabama lost the greatest coach of a generation.
It’s always tough to replace a legend especially a living legend.
Kalen DeBoer will have that task.
DeBoer will leave the University of Washington to replace Saban at Alabama.
If he doesn’t already know it, DeBoer will find out pretty fast that the expectations at Alabama doesn’t resemble the one at Washington.
The state of Alabama doesn’t expect SEC titles they expect national championships especially when the College Football Playoff is expanding to 12 teams.
Never forget that Bill Curry was fired after going 10-2. That 1o wins and 2 losses!
After Paul “Bear” Bryant’s retirement, it took two coaches, Ray Perkins and Curry, before Gene Stallings won a national championship in 1992.
Once Stallings left amid NCAA allegations, it took five coaches before Nick Saban came to town with a national championship from LSU and an unsuccessful stint in the NFL.
Saban was 206-29 at Alabama with three BCS championships and three College Football Playoff championships.
DeBoer’s Washington Huskies lost in the College Football Playoff National Championship game to Michigan.
The are several challenges that face DeBoer starting with recruiting. By going outside of the SEC to find a coach, top recruits could be scared off. If the Crimson Tide had hired someone like Lane Kiffin, they would have a coach that knows how to navigate the uber-competitive SEC trail. You best believe, every SEC coach is in the ear of recruits saying that DeBoer could be over his head.
Saban also had a knack of getting kids who knew they could sit for three years and still have a shot at the NFL. Can DeBoer convince four and five stars to sit on bloated rosters because the payoff at the end?
It’s why hiring DeBoer is risky. The SEC is a different beast especially when dealing with boosters, recruits, and talk-shows.
The odds are stacked up against DeBoer and, trust me, he will find that out fast.
