Two Versions of DeBoer's UW Exit to Alabama — Take Your Pick
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Everybody has a conspiracy theory these days, and a couple of University of Washington football donors forever will remain convinced Kalen DeBoer's Alabama hiring was a pre-arranged deal.
In their minds, these big-money guys, who don't wish to be identified, say that's why DeBoer didn't sign a couple of proposed contract extensions sent his way during the regular season. He was tipped off to what was coming.
They point out how DeBoer uses the same agent, Jimmy Sexton, who represented the retired legendary Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban, which means the possibility existed for insider knowledge readily being shared between all parties regarding the impending coaching vacancy in Tuscaloosa.
Reaching their conspiracy theory conclusion, they suggest DeBoer wasn't at his best for the College Football Playoff championship game against Michigan because he already knew he was leaving and was distracted by it all.
Whew.
On Wednesday, ESPN presented seemingly a more plausible and detailed version of events, which, through interviews of the leading figures involved, suggest a whirlwind courtship of DeBoer and nothing more.
The former UW coach told how the disappointment on the Tuesday charter flight back from Houston and a 34-13 loss to Michigan was difficult, how he texted different players on board, especially the ones who had just completed their careers, and how he was ready to get back to work after a good night's sleep.
On Wednesday of that week, DeBoer saw the news of Saban's retiring and said he was surprised by it, and insisted he had no idea all of this would impact him. Yet that night, the coach received a call from Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne, setting everything in crazy motion.
"It just happened so fast, all of it," DeBoer told ESPN. "I get the call Wednesday night they want to talk. We're meeting on Thursday morning, and I was offered the job on Friday morning. I didn't have time to talk to a lot of people. I just knew I wanted the job."
While many UW fans only derisively refer to DeBoer these days out of spite for him leaving them and the Huskies behind, they've never met the man. They don't really understand how ultra competitive he is, even though he beat Oregon three times for them, Texas and Michigan State twice each and USC in Los Angeles — in two really fast-paced seasons. What a short-term resume.
What made him successful with the Huskies is why he couldn't dare turn down the Alabama job. As he once put it, he only knows how to play for championships, it's that simple. He only knows how to lay it out there and go for it all.
Alabama, in modern times, is the Mount Everest of college football with all of its national championships. While Washington certainly is an attractive college football coaching destination, with a better city and stadium than Alabama, it's not the top of the ladder.
DeBoer would turn down a $9 million extension during the season and another maxing out at $9.6 million after the CFP title game, according to reports, in an effort to keep him in Montlake with the Alabama offer now extended, all more than double his $4.2 million salary in 2023. Alabama will pay him $10 million per year.
On Jan. 12, DeBoer accepted the deal, told his UW players that he was leaving and headed for the Deep South on a private jet. Ever the competitor or foolishly as time will tell, he couldn't resist a job that will carry 10 times more pressure than the one he left.
"We loved Washington, the people there, our players, everything we'd accomplished in two years," DeBoer told ESPN. "But I also just loved everything about Greg Byrne and our conversation together and everything that Alabama football stands for, the proud tradition of this program and how deep it runs."
This week, DeBoer opened Alabama spring football practice with more eyes on him than at any time in his coaching career. He's no longer at Sioux Falls, Fresno State or even Washington, with everything he says or does dissected to insane levels.
He's at a place made famous by Bear Bryant and Nick Saban, and he's unafraid to see if he can become unforgettable, too.
Those in the Seattle media who covered him never thought DeBoer would be the UW football coach for any lengthy amount of time simply because of the incredible amount of success he showed in an instant. Everyone in a position of college football power would want a piece of that. Everyone in the press thought his Midwest background ultimately would take him to someplace such as Michigan, which likely would have offered him a big chunk of Lake Michigan to return to his roots.
Instead he's at Alabama, just like Darrell Royal left the UW nearly seven decades ago for Texas without looking back or like Steve Sarkisian departed the Huskies in a hurry for USC a decade ago, just because they couldn't say no to those ultimate coaching challenges either. Husky fans weren't thrilled by those moves either.
People somehow think loyalty enters into this equation involving college coach and football school, where the bottom line is little more than a coach taking a swing at the highest level of competition to see how he fares. It's like skydiving for the first time. You just hope to land safely and do it again, but it's the ultimate thrill.
In terms of those indignant Husky fans, they'll someday get over DeBoer leaving town and maybe realize he did a tremendous thing for them and their cherished football program. To even reach the CFP championship game is something that might not happen again in program annals, or at least not for a long time.
As far as those well-heeled UW donors and their conspiracy theorists go, there's probably no hope for them. Or were they on to something?
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