Sources: DeBoer accepts be next Bama coach

• Mark Schlabach Close Mark Schlabach ESPN Senior Writer Senior college football writer Author of

  7 books on college football Graduate of the University of Georgia Chris Low Close Chris

  Low

  ESPN Senior Citizen Writer

  • College football reporter
  • Joined ESPN.com in 2007
  • Graduate of the University of Tennessee

Jan 12, 2024, 02:02 PM ET

Washington’s Kalen DeBoer, who assisted the Huskies to a Pac-12 championship and a spot in the College Football Playoff Championship game this past season, has actually agreed to an offer to become the next head coach at Alabama, sources told ESPN on Friday.DeBoer informed the

Huskies on Friday he is leaving for Alabama, sources told ESPN’s Pete Thamel, and a deal is anticipated to be made official later on in the day.DeBoer, 49, would acquire one of the most

sought after jobs in college football– and one of the most hard– in replacing Saban, whose groups won nine SEC titles and 6 championship games in his 17 seasons at the school. Saban, who had a 206-29 record at Alabama, retired Wednesday.Washington athletic director Troy Dannen has actually made an aggressive pitch to keep DeBoer, sources told Thamel, with a brand-new contract that would make him among the 10 highest-paid coaches in the FBS and more than double his present yearly wage of $4.2 million. If a deal gets done, Kalen DeBoer, 49, would acquire among the most sought after jobs in college football– and one of the most hard in replacing Saban, whose groups won 9 SEC titles and 6 championship games in his 17 seasons at the school. USA Today Sports DeBoer would owe Washington a$ 12 million buyout if he leaves. He signed a two-year agreement extension through the 2028 season in November.DeBoer had become the Crimson Tide’s leading target even before 3 other possible candidates, Oregon’s Dan Lanning, Florida State’s Mike Norvell and Texas’Steve Sarkisian, withdrew from the search and verified their dedications to their existing schools over the previous two days.Editor’s Picks

Washington employed DeBoer to resurrect its program after the Huskies went 4-8 in Jimmy Lake’s second season as coach in 2021. With Indiana transfer Michael Penix Jr. orchestrating Washington’s high-flying offense, the Huskies more than doubled their victory overall during an 11-2 project in 2022.

This previous season, Washington went 12-0 throughout the regular season and beat rival Oregon for a second time, 34-31 in the Pac-12 national championship, to reach the CFP for the second time in school history. The Huskies beat Texas 37-31 in a CFP semifinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Day.Washington lost

to No. 1 Michigan 34-13 in the CFP National Championship presented by AT&T.

DeBoer’s working with at Alabama would be the pinnacle of a meteoric rise in coaching over the past few seasons for him. A record-setting receiver at the University of Sioux Falls, an NAIA program in his home state of South Dakota, DeBoer became head coach of his alma mater in 2005. Over the next 5 seasons, his groups went 67-3 and won three NAIA championship games (in 2006, 2008 and 2009). The Cougars went 17-2 in the NAIA playoffs during DeBoer’s tenure.After working

as an offensive organizer at Southern Illinois, Eastern Michigan, Fresno State and Indiana, DeBoer replaced Jeff Tedford as Fresno State’s coach in 2020. The Bulldogs went 3-3 in the COVID-19-delayed season in 2020, then improved to 9-3 in his 2nd season, that included upset wins over nationally ranked UCLA and San Diego State.ESPN’s Pete

Thamel contributed to this report.