The college football season came to a close earlier this week when the Michigan football team defeated Washington to win the national title. One week before that game, Michigan and Alabama football battled things out in the Rose Bowl College Football Semifinal for a spot in the national title game. It was another fantastic edition of the bowl game with the richest history, and the Wolverines squeaked out an overtime victory against the Crimson Tide. What we didn't know at the time, however, was that it would be the last game that Alabama head coach Nick Saban would coach. News broke on Wednesday that the college football legend was retiring, and now, the Crimson Tide are in need of a new head coach.
First of all, even though Alabama didn't win the national title this season, this might've been the most impressive coaching job that Nick Saban has ever had. If you're a fan of the Crimson Tide, you might disagree because of all the national championship seasons that Saban had in his time with the program, but what he was able to do with this group and the turnaround that the team had was extremely impressive.
When Alabama lost to Texas football by double digits at home early in the season and then had to bench quarterback Jalen Milroe the following week at USF, everyone wrote the Crimson Tide off. They simply didn't look like a Nick Saban coached team, and they seemed destined to lose another game. They surely didn't look like a team that could knock off the two-time defending national champion Georgia Bulldogs. However, they just kept winning. The Crimson Tide took care of business week in and week out, and they eventually found themselves hoisting the SEC title trophy after knocking off the two-time defending national champion Georgia Bulldogs. That earned Alabama a spot in the College Football Playoff.
Obviously, the playoff didn't go as planned for Saban and Alabama as they fell in the Rose Bowl to Michigan, and the standard and expectation in Tuscaloosa is to win a national championship. However, if you're a Crimson Tide fan, take a step back for a minute. No matter what happens in your CFP semifinal game, it is very hard to be one of the only four teams to make the College Football Playoff. There's a reason why final fours are celebrated the way they are in college basketball. In college football, you can't lose more than one game, and sometimes even if you do lose one, your season is over. Think of all the fans that would be thrilled to have their team make the CFP just once even if it means they get blown out in the semifinal. You can't win em' all, and Alabama didn't win this year, but getting to the playoff is always something to be proud of, and Nick Saban had one of his most impressive appearances in his final season of coaching the game.
Now we are into the offseason in college football, and there were a lot of potential coaching changes that everyone had their eye on, but this was not one of them. Saban is arguably the best coach to ever do it in college football, and now Alabama has to find someone else. Good luck to whoever gets this job. You have some massive shoes to fill.
The initial names for potential replacements include a lot of Saban's assistants that now have other big head coaching jobs, and there are some other coaches from big schools mixed in as well. It doesn't sound like Alabama is going to go with an internal hire, and that seems like a good call. There isn't anyone on the staff right now that is ready to step into this massive role. Some potential replacements that have been floating around are Steve Sarkisian, James Franklin, Kalen DeBoer, Dan Lanning, Lane Kiffin, and more. Those coaches have all been successful at their current schools, but one of them seems to make a lot of sense.
Kalen DeBoer
So far, a couple of coaches that were named as potential candidates have shut down the rumors that they could be leaving their current job, and because of that, it seems like Kalen DeBoer from Washington is currently the top option for Alabama football. Not only is he potentially the top option right now, but he also could be the best option for the Crimson Tide. First of all, DeBoer is a relatively young coach as he is only 49 years old, and he has already taken the Huskies to the national title game. He can win football games.
First off, the fact that DeBoer is a young coach is good for Alabama. They just had one of the best runs that college football has ever seen with Saban, and it lasted a long time. Expectations are sky-high in Tuscaloosa, and they want to bring in someone that is capable of replicating what Saban did. Obviously, Saban is one of the best coaches to ever do it, so there's a high likelihood that no one can replicate it, but they want someone that will be there for awhile and someone that can consistently win.
Also, the fact that DeBoer was just able to take Washington to the national title game is a great sign. The Huskies don't have the same resources that Alabama has, and it is a lot harder to take a team like that to the national title game than it is for the Crimson Tide. If DeBoer was able to win like that at Washington, He's going to be able to win like that at Alabama too. He might not win a national every three years like Saban, but the Crimson Tide might have to accept that it isn't going to get any better than that. DeBoer has proven he can win, and that's what the Crimson Tide want.
Nick Saban retiring from Alabama football was not expected by the college football world, but it instantly has become the biggest story in the sport's offseason. It's going to be very interesting to see who gets this job, and like I said before, good luck to whoever it is.
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