Kalen DeBoer would be crazy to leave Alabama for Michigan
By David Wasson
Published:
The tidal wave of news that flowed out of Ann Arbor on Wednesday hit all of college football just when it was starting to recover from the Lane Kiffin Sweepstakes, with layers of craziness not seen in the sport since former (briefly) Alabama coach Mike Price met his Destiny in Pensacola some 22 years ago.
While sportswriters were doing double duty as police-beat reporters throughout Michigan, speculation quickly turned to who would replace the fired Sherrone Moore as leader of the Wolverines football program. One name that immediately popped up as a possibility, though, made absolutely no sense…
Why on Saban’s green earth would DeBoer leave an Alabama program he has finally gotten his hands around late in Year 2 to take over an abject disaster in Michigan? Why would a coach with all the resources at his disposal, not to mention positive momentum finally in his sails, cut bait and take over a Wolverines program that is careening headlong into the ditch at maximum speed?
Oh sure, Michigan apologists will claim DeBoer’s distant-memory in-state ties as a reason to become the savior of a program-redefining scandal with each passing news cycle. And the same Michigan apologists will claim that their rich history and pedigree is enough of a lure for a tippy-top-tier coach to abandon a Good Ship Crimson that has finally crested another high Tide.
But here’s a news flash, my fine deluded Wolverine friends: Michigan isn’t on Alabama’s level. Not now, and minus a Connor Stalions-aided burst of glory in 2023, not for the past 2 decades.
I have a unique relationship with birthright legacy, having performed journalism inside Alabama’s borders for a good many years. The amount of Crimson Tide faithful who hadn’t ever stepped foot in a college classroom yet adored and still adore the Crimson Tide in the state could fill an NFL stadium. Same goes for many stops in the SEC … it’s simply part of the territory and what makes the ad slogan “It Just Means More” particularly accurate.
The same goes within the borders of the Wolverine State. With 12 claimed national titles, 45 Big Ten crowns and the most all-time wins in FBS history (1,021 and counting), Michigan’s blood is as blue as it gets in the sport. And Wolverine Nation is in fact nationwide, as you can’t walk a city block from coast to coast without encountering a Michigan fan good and ready to tell you they are a Michigan fan.
But here’s the thing Michigan Man (and Michigan Woman) is forgetting: Alabama became the new and once-again gold standard in college football the moment Nicholas Lou Saban stepped on the Capstone campus. Not only did Saban awaken the echoes that had gone dormant from years of scandal and malaise in the post-Bryant era, but he raised Alabama to unforeseen heights.
In the wake of Saban’s retirement in January 2024, it is true Alabama took a step down from the sport’s ziggurat in DeBoer’s star-crossed first season – a 9-3 regular season that saw the Tide miss the College Football Playoff for the just the third time in the CFP’s existence.
That step backwards had some grumbling that DeBoer might not be The Man to replace Saban and continue the insanely high standards that delivered 6 national titles in 17 seasons. But DeBoer calmly steered Alabama through a tumultuous 2025 that began with a shocking loss at Florida State and ended with a harrowing victory at Auburn to get back to into the CFP field once again.
Is DeBoer the perfect coach to lead Alabama to more glory in the post-Saban era? It is impossible to answer that question in real time, other than to note that going from 9-4 to 10-3 with a harsh schedule, all those grumblings and his predecessor casting a literal shadow on campus and on television is definite progress.
And because of Alabama’s obscene success since Saban bolted the Miami Dolphins for Tuscaloosa, the Crimson Tide have the financial wherewithal to continue the upward momentum moving forward. NIL money – both harvesting and spending on talent – has continued apace with DeBoer, and Alabama’s facilities are the envy of the nation.
DeBoer himself earned $10.25 million in 2025 as part of an 8-year, $87 million contract he signed when he left Washington for Alabama – placing him among the top 10 highest-paid coaches in the country.
Michigan, on the other hand, is a straight-up mess right now. Face it, Jim Harbaugh bolted Ann Arbor in 2023 the nanosecond he got his national championship ring and seconds ahead of the NCAA coming after him for the illegal scouting and sign-stealing scandal that should have tainted the 15-0 title season way more than it did (ironically, including nipping Alabama in overtime in the CFP semifinals in what ended up being Saban’s final game).
Harbaugh’s departure begat Moore, who immediately took on some sign-stealing sanctions of his own but also kept the shine going just enough to upset Ohio State in 2024 – a loss that helped fuel the Buckeyes to end up going on a CFP title run of their own.
Moore served 2 more games’ worth of suspensions for the sign-stealing scandal in 2025 but had otherwise seemingly brought calm to the Wolverines en route to a 9-3 season. But alas, all that calm turned into chaos Wednesday when Moore was fired for cause by Michigan due to “credible evidence” that Moore engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a staff member.
That insanity is still unfolding at this very minute, but the ripple effect of Moore’s self-destruction only further lends to the belief that Michigan is not a program to take over right now. The Wolverines’ newly signed recruiting class is probably looking for alternate 2026 options, several existing Michigan players are also throwing out feelers for transfer portal opportunities, and who knows what kind of effect all of it will have on NIL funding – which we all know is the secret sauce to the new world of college football.
So why, exactly, would DeBoer leave a proven winner with virtually unlimited resources that he has trending upward for a program wrapped up so far in scandal that it can’t find the thread to pull to begin untangling it all?
What Michigan needs is a full-on, control-alt-delete reset – just as Alabama did when it hired alum Mike Shula to coach the football team in the wake of the Mike Price drama and ongoing NCAA hurdles. The Wolverines simply need to keep their noses clean for a couple years, put the twin dramas of sign-stealing and Moore in the rearview mirror and regroup.
So don’t worry too much, Crimson Nation. It is simply too illogical for DeBoer to depart Alabama right now – especially for Michigan. There is too much to lose and just not enough to gain.
An APSE national award-winning writer and editor, David Wasson has almost four decades of experience in the print journalism business in Florida and Alabama. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and several national magazines and websites. He also hosts Gulfshore Sports with David Wasson, weekdays from 3-5 pm across Southwest Florida and on FoxSportsFM.com. His Twitter handle: @JustDWasson.
