Rumors on Alabama football's Kalen DeBoer, Michigan can end | Goodbread
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It took the same question asked twice for Alabama football coach Kalen DeBoer to cut through the rhetoric and answer directly, but finally, he did.
Will you be the coach at Alabama next year?
“Yes.”
And with that, the half-written book on DeBoer’s escape from one high-pressure job with the Crimson Tide to another in Michigan was officially closed. Those books have been known to be closed prematurely; indeed, the man DeBoer replaced, legendary coach Nick Saban, was once equally definitive that he wasn’t leaving the Miami Dolphins not long before he did just that. But bringing a merciful end to DeBoer-to-Michigan speculation seems warranted for reasons beyond his own insistence.
After all, the statement he released Sunday affirming his intention to stay at Alabama was issued through the school’s NIL collective, Yea Alabama, and commented upon via social media by UA Director of Athletics Greg Byrne. That’s indicative not only of DeBoer’s intentions, but as well that he and the support system around him at Alabama are same-paged. Add to that the certainty of his response Monday — certainty that coaches with wandering eyes rarely provide — and Michigan hot boards everywhere can now safely shrink by one.
Somebody, somewhere with a website and some reckless ambition will certainly push the notion that DeBoer is in play for the Wolverines until the day they hire someone else to take over Moore’s dumpster fire. That’s to be expected, but DeBoer has now been as definitive as anyone can ask him to be. And if he’s to be taken at his word, there was never any interest in the Michigan job on his part.
Reporting of DeBoer as a candidate was driven by Michigan’s apparent interest in him, and I’ve got no reason to believe UM didn’t have DeBoer at or near the top of its list. One-way interest is all it takes for speculation to take root, especially when it’s a blueblood program like Michigan. That’s a fan base, like Alabama’s, which might have a hard time fathoming any coach dismissing their interest out of hand.
But reciprocal interest is the only thing that can light the fire. And that’s why DeBoer-to-Michigan rumors were never anything but smoke.
A lot like the DeBoer-to-Penn State rumors that preceded them.
So DeBoer will be back for a third season with the Crimson Tide in 2026, looking to build upon a 2025 CFP berth with a roster that will, by then, be almost completely his own. Another big job will open, and another report that DeBoer could take it will no doubt surface.
And another example of one-way interest won’t mean anything then, either.
Tuscaloosa News columnist Chase Goodbread is also the weekly co-host of Crimson Cover TV on WVUA-23. Reach him at cgoodbread@gannett.com. Follow on X.com @chasegoodbread.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Rumors on Alabama football’s Kalen DeBoer, Michigan can finally end
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