Would Kalen DeBoer Leave Alabama For Michigan? It's Complicated
The coaching carousel keeps getting crazier!
In light of the recent Sherrone Moore firing and subsequent fallout at Michigan, the Wolverines are now on the clock for a new head coach.
This coaching carousel has already proven to be one of the most insane hiring and firing cycles in recent memory, but the Moore drama has only taken things up to 11.
I scoured social media to see who the Michigan faithful wanted as their next head coach, and one name seems to be nearly synonymous among fans and plugged-in beat writers alike: Kalen DeBoer.
I'm not knocking the idea of DeBoer in Ann Arbor. He is a damn good football coach.
My question is this: would Kalen DeBoer leave Alabama for Michigan?
Maybe, but the answer is a bit more complicated than that.
Culture Fit
When hiring a coach, the most important quality isn't wins and losses, it's culture fit.
I've been pounding the table about this since the coaching carousel started back in September, but it's true.
I think the biggest reason DeBoer would bolt from Tuscaloosa is that he isn't a culture fit at Bama.
The guy is as good as they come with regard to X's and O's, but since day one he has seemed like a fish out of water in the SEC.
There are rumors (unsubstantiated though they may be) that he is unhappy at Alabama, so that might be all it takes to get him to jump ship.
It takes two to tango in this instance as well, and Bama fans have been so spoiled from the last two decades of Saban, they may be ready to cut ties with DeBoer after failing to win the SEC this season and nearly missing the playoffs two years in a row.
Which One Is The Better Job?
Every fanbase thinks their job is the best, it's part of being a fan. But it may not be so cut and dry that one job is better than the other these days.
Yes, Michigan famously landed a quarterback with an eight-figure pricetag, and they have multi-billionaire Larry Ellison footing their NIL bill, but Bama isn't exactly in the poorhouse either.
The Crimson Tide have outrecruited the Wolverines every year since NIL was introduced, including this cycle, when Bama reeled in yet another top-five class.
Michigan will occasionally finish in the top-10, but Alabama has locked down a top-five recruiting class every year since 2010.
It isn't any easier to win at Michigan either.
Sure, you can split hairs about whether the Big Ten or the SEC is the better conference top to bottom, but there's no denying they are both uber competitive, and Bama actually has the talent advantage over their rivals, whereas Michigan is looking up at Ohio State and Oregon from a roster perspective.
I would caution Wolverine fans to check their hubris, as fellow Big Ten coaching carousel passenger, Penn State, didn't exactly land their first choice for head coach either (DeBoer was on their list, too).
As for DeBoer, I have no clue what he ends up doing.
Despite his rumored unhappiness, he has a very good thing going in Tuscaloosa.
I wouldn't be shocked to see him pack his bags for the Great Lakes State, but I would also tell Michigan fans to pump the breaks on their confidence.
This coaching carousel stuff ain't for the weak-hearted, and Wolverine fans are about to find out firsthand that these things rarely work out the way you think they will.