Kalen DeBoer may not be Nick Saban, but he is still one of the best coaches in college football.
With every loss, his seat gets hotter as fans compare his coaching with the previous head coach’s success. When his name is mentioned for other big coaching jobs, some even wish that he would just take another job and leave because he just isn’t as good as Saban. That may be the case, but DeBoer is a pretty good football coach, and he proved it last Friday night.
By defeating Oklahoma 34-24 in the first round of the College Football Playoffs, DeBoer became the first head coach to win a College Football Playoff game at multiple schools. In 2023, in his second year at Washington, he defeated Texas in the semifinals to advance the Huskies to the National Championship Game, but came up short against Michigan. Friday night in his second year at Alabama, DeBoer accomplished the historic feat of winning a playoff game at a second school.
Coaches who win College Football Playoff games usually don’t leave their current program, but DeBoer’s rise as a head coach came at the perfect time. DeBoer took a Washington program not known as a traditional powerhouse to the National Championship Game, and with Saban retiring from one of the winningest programs in college history, DeBoer’s name instantly became the lead candidate for the Alabama job, which he would ultimately get.
Only three other coaches have left for another head coaching job on their terms after winning a College Football Playoff game. They are Luke Fickell, who went from Cincinnati to Wisconsin, Brian Kelly, who went from Notre Dame to LSU, and Jimbo Fisher, who left Florida State for Texas A&M. Things have not gone well for those three, as Fisher and Kelly have been fired, and Fickell’s job security at Wisconsin is on life support.
DeBoer now has two playoff wins but still trails Saban, who has a record nine College Football Playoff wins. A third win in the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day over Indiana would inch him closer to Saban and tie him for fifth all-time with Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman.
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