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SEC Sports
Grades for every 2024 hire, headlined by Kalen DeBoer replacing Nick Saban
247Sports examines and grades all 30 new FBS head coaches following one of the busiest coaching carousels of the modern era.
247sports.com
Alabama: Kalen DeBoer (Washington head coach)
Grade — A
DeBoer is/was the hottest head coach in the country, so it figures the top job in the country would at least kick the tires. He might not “fit” geographically at Alabama, but the Sioux Falls native is an absolute winner. He’s won big at every job and drastically improved every team he has inherited, whether as an offensive coordinator or head coach.
As OC, he turned a one-win team into a 10-win team in 12 months at Fresno State and also flipped Eastern Michigan from a one-win season to a seven-win record in a year. He won eight games as Indiana's 2019 play-caller. It was the best win total in 26 years.
DeBoer is 37-9 in four years as an FBS head coach, including the 13-win season at Washington that ended in January as the national runner-up, and he owns three national titles as an NAIA head coach. He might not be Saban, but he at least has a championship pedigree (104-12 as a head coach) that has been backed by results year after year, regardless of his role or the inherent difficulties of the job.
