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Alabama’s Kalen DeBoer Addresses Penn State Rumors Ahead of SEC Championship

Liam McKeone

Kalen DeBoer discussed rumors about Penn State’s vacant head coach position ahead of Alabama’s SEC championship game.
Kalen DeBoer discussed rumors about Penn State’s vacant head coach position ahead of Alabama’s SEC championship game. / Jake Crandall/ Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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Kalen DeBoer left Washington to be Nick Saban’s successor at Alabama in 2024 and it’s gone fairly well, all things considered. National championships are the expectation in Tuscaloosa and DeBoer missing the College Football Playoff in his first season at the helm wasn’t ideal. But he has the Rolling Tide well-positioned to qualify for a CFP berth this year and the team will play in the SEC championship game on Saturday.

But given how wild the college coaching carousel has been this season, rumors have swirled connecting DeBoer to the still-open Penn State job despite his team’s success. On Thursday, meeting with the media ahead of Alabama’s championship bout with Georgia, DeBoer firmly put any noise he might head to Happy Valley to rest.

“We are extremely happy here,” DeBoer said when asked about the rumors and suggestions his family isn’t happy in Alabama. “Love the challenge, love the grind, love this place. There’s never been any link, there’s never been any conversation, there’s never been any interest either way. I’m glad we can put that to bed right now.”

It’s the expected response. Despite any noise out there it was never realistic to believe DeBoer would leave Alabama, arguably the most prestigious job in the sport, for any opportunity—much less after only two years helming the Crimson Tide program.

The Penn State job is a tremendous opportunity but the school has had a lot of trouble finding a successor to James Franklin despite searching since October. Poaching a coach like DeBoer from another top-tier program would be a heist. It’s also a pipe dream, and that was the case before DeBoer publicly commented on it.

Whoever will be next to run the Nittany Lions program, it won’t be DeBoer. He made that abundantly clear as he prepares the Crimson Tide for their massive game against the Bulldogs on Saturday.

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Liam McKeone
LIAM MCKEONE

Liam McKeone is a senior writer for the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has been in the industry as a content creator since 2017, and prior to joining SI in May 2024, McKeone worked for NBC Sports Boston and The Big Lead. In addition to his work as a writer, he has hosted the Press Pass Podcast covering sports media and The Big Stream covering pop culture. A graduate of Fordham University, he is always up for a good debate and enjoys loudly arguing about sports, rap music, books and video games. McKeone has been a member of the National Sports Media Association since 2020.

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