Alabama athletics director Greg Bryne recalled the process of hiring Kalen DeBoer as the new football coach after Nick Saban’s retirement.
The way the AD described it, it couldn’t have gone smoother in terms of a transition. Following Alabama’s loss to Michigan in the CFP semifinal at the Rose Bowl, Saban took some time.
But, he didn’t drag out the process, which ultimately led to DeBoer.
“Coach Saban could not have handled his retirement in any better manner than he did,” Byrne said on The Paul Finebaum Show. “He and I worked together for seven and a half years. You know, I would always let him bring it up. But over the years, we talked about what, you know, when that time would come for him. And I knew that over the last few years, there had been more substantial conversations.
“He talked about some of that publicly. And then when he and I got together on the — Monday we played in the Rose Bowl, we lost to Michigan, Tuesday we came back to Tuscaloosa. And on Wednesday, he did some staff stuff and then he and Miss Terry went down to Florida, Thursday evening.”
Byrne revealed the ensuing conversation with Saban and his decision. Then the discussion surrounding DeBoer, who just led Washington to the national title game, went fast.
“And so when we got together the next week, on Tuesday, you know I figured it was going to be a discussion about it,” Bryne said. “And the discussion was he couldn’t have been better, couldn’t have been just more — just honest about his feelings. And by the time things were going I said, ‘Coach, you know, obviously we were hoping this day wouldn’t come but at the same time too, as you can imagine, I would think you’d be disappointed in me if we weren’t prepared.’
“And so with that, we had been researching and preparing for the day when that time came. And Kalen DeBoer’s name over the last few years had been very front and center in that research.”
DeBoer being front and center was not a surprise when it came to Alabama candidates. Sure, other big names came up, such as Lane Kiffin, Mike Norvell and more.
But DeBoer was about as solid as they came. He is 104-12 overall in his head coaching career, including 25-3 in just two years at Washington.
It seems like that success is set to translate with a historic program.
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