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Alex Scarborough, ESPN Staff Writer
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — University of Alabama president Stuart Bell marked a “new chapter in the Crimson Tide football program” Saturday by introducing its 28th head coach: Kalen DeBoer, the Associated Press Coach of the Year who this past season led Washington to a berth in the College Football Playoff National Championship game.
But Bell first had to acknowledge the outgoing coach, Nick Saban, who won the AP award twice — to go along with six national championships — during his 17 seasons at Alabama.
“Your legacy will forever be interwoven with the fabric of the university,” Bell said of Saban, arguably the greatest college football coach of all time with seven national titles (including one with LSU) and a record of 307-88-1.
A full-throated ovation interrupted Bell’s speech for a moment.
Saban’s presence was felt throughout the afternoon’s festivities. The five-time SEC Coach of the Year wore a crimson sports coat and sat in the front row, to athletic director Greg Byrne’s left as he spoke inside Bryant-Denny Stadium. Before listing DeBoer’s credentials and talking through the hiring process, Byrne thanked Saban and alluded to a future celebration for him and his wife, Terry.
Beyond the wall of glass behind the dais, a statue of Saban stood along the walk of champions — a testament to the coach’s greatness as well as the expectations awaiting his successor.
“When I look at places I want to be, it’s about winning championships,” DeBoer said. “That’s the expectation, and [I] accept [that] as a privilege to try to uphold.”
DeBoer credited Saban for laying a strong foundation, calling him “the best in the business to ever do it.”
“100 percent access, OK?” he said of Saban’s involvement moving forward. “I’d be a fool if that wasn’t the case.”
DeBoer, 49, grew up in South Dakota and cut his teeth in the lower rungs of college football in the NAIA before winning back-to-back Pac-12 Coach of the Year awards at Washington. He spoke to Saban for the first time Friday. On Saturday morning, he said he called the coach again.
The last time DeBoer was in Bryant-Denny Stadium was in 2017, when he was offensive coordinator at Fresno State. He joked of the 41-10 loss to Alabama, “It wasn’t one that I want to remember.”
But three years later, DeBoer was the head coach at Fresno State. It was then, compiling a 12-6 record in two seasons, that Byrne said the coach caught his attention.
Byrne said he came to Alabama seven years ago as AD knowing that it was his job to facilitate Saban’s tenure for as long as he wanted to remain the coach, while also preparing for his eventual retirement. Byrne said he kept in close contact with Saban during the season, meeting every Sunday, and wasn’t surprised when he called it quits.
“Over time, I was always preparing, hoping I’d never have to execute the plan,” Byrne said.
Byrne was on a flight in search of Saban’s replacement the same evening the coach announced he was stepping down. Byrne told the team he’d have a new coach named within 72 hours. It wound up taking only 49.
Byrne slept nine hours over three nights, calling on Saban for his guidance multiple times. Not utilizing Saban, Byrne said, would have been “irresponsible.”
“Shame on me if I didn’t want to do that,” he added.
Two of Saban’s former players stood to the side of the podium Saturday as DeBoer was introduced: former linebacker Christian Miller and former defensive back Ha Ha Clinton-Dix.
DeBoer, who has a 104-12 record, has never coached in the SEC. He acknowledged his lack of familiarity with the conference and the region but said he understood “there needs to be some SEC ties [on staff] that can bridge the gap.”
So far, no assistant coaches or staff members have been named.
Given the ability of players to leave via the transfer portal, DeBoer and Byrne said they understood the sense of urgency to win over the current roster.
DeBoer met with the team shortly after arriving in Tuscaloosa on Friday night.
“I want you to put yourself in those guys’ shoes,” DeBoer said. “A legendary coach that they came to play for [is gone], and now what’s next?”
DeBoer said he has had multiple meetings with players, both individually and with the team leaders.
“I know how badly they want to continue the tradition and how they want to do it the right way,” DeBoer said. “And them getting to know me in the last few hours has been a blast.
“I can’t wait for the journey that lies ahead.”
Fearing he’d get emotional, DeBoer said he held off thanking his former players at Washington until the end of his speech. And right on cue, he teared up.
“It’s a special place to me, it really is,” he said. “This was one of the few places, maybe the only place, that I would have ever left for.”
Speaking to reporters after the news conference, Byrne said he understood the narrative that no one would want to follow a legend like Saban. If he was a writer, he said, he’d probably offer the same opinion.
“But as I thought about it over the years, one of the things I thought about was, you better have somebody that’s comfortable in their own skin and that looks at this as a challenge and as an opportunity, not as a detriment,” he said. “And almost immediately, for Coach DeBoer and [his wife] Nicole, too … they saw this as a wonderful opportunity.”
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