Rece Davis rules out $87 million HC as Michigan's next coach despite rumors

The rumor mill won't stop connecting one major SEC head coach to the Michigan vacancy, but the College GameDay host thinks that kind of talk goes nowhere.

Rece Davis has heard enough about Kalen DeBoer going to Michigan. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The names Kalen DeBoer and Michigan are still being put together by an army of college football analysts amid speculation that the Alabama head coach will jump ship and join the historic Big Ten program, despite his efforts to discount that kind of talk.

And even as he has the Crimson Tide back in the College Football Playoff and poised for a rematch against Oklahoma in the first-round game in a couple days.

Looking over the big picture, College GameDay host and Alabama alum Rece Davis staked his claim on the DeBoer-Michigan talk. His verdict? It’s not happening.

Rece Davis on the Kalen DeBoer rumors

“Kalen DeBoer will not coach Michigan next year,” Davis said on the College GameDay podcast.

“I’m taking him at his word and also with the gut feel of what I said. I think the biggest factor is... I think, inside, he doesn’t want to run from it.”

Running from one of the two or three best jobs in college football with a shot at the national title is one thing.

But running to a program mired in scandal, whose dismissed coach was recently in jail and is facing charges, and currently conducting an investigation into itself is another.

“Even if you could say, look, if you were his closest advisor, ‘You’re not running from it, you’re running to something else that fits better.’ Even if you say that, I think inside, for him?” Davis added.

Still, you get the feeling almost anything could happen.

“It may be that it goes the other way, and he and I talk later and he goes, ‘Look, let me tell you something, you didn’t know this was happening, and this is x, y, and z,’” he said. 

“Okay, that’s fine. But I don’t think so. I think he stays there. Michigan has to look elsewhere. Michigan will come up with a great coach.”

What DeBoer has done at Alabama

DeBoer signed an $87 million contract over eight years with Alabama early in 2024 as the man to replace Nick Saban, and so far the results have been up and down, but mostly positive.

After missing out on the College Football Playoff a year ago, a debut that included a loss to Michigan in the ReliaQuest Bowl, he led the Crimson Tide to a place in the postseason field in 2025.

DeBoer will make his playoff debut this week against Oklahoma, which defeated his Alabama team to boost its own CFP resume this season, and which beat his roster in Norman last season.

(Davis)