Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer reiterated a previous point Monday that he stands committed to the Crimson Tide, stiff-arming speculation concerning the Michigan vacancy ahead of a College Football Playoff bout with Oklahoma. Deboer, widely-considered among the best fits for the Wolverines soon after Sherrone Moore’s firing further commented on job speculation Monday morning.
“I put a statement out yesterday because I just … first of all, our guys handle distractions phenomenally,” DeBoer said. “It’s been that way all season long. They continue to do that. But I also knew yesterday and today was pretty important. I wasn’t going to see (media) until today to address it, so that’s why I put that out there. Lot of the same things I said before a couple weeks ago when I was asked the same question.
“Just feel complete supported. My family loves living here. All the things we continue to build on. Love the progress. Haven’t talked with anyone. No plans of talking with anyone. I think that’s a lot of what I said a couple weeks ago and it continues to be the same thing. Our guys, if there’s been any distraction, I haven’t seen it. Haven’t felt it. We’ve probably all-season long have dealt with enough noise where it doesn’t surprise me on how they’ve handled this.”
In his second season with the Crimson Tide after taking Washington to the 2023 national championship game, DeBoer is 19-7 at Alabama, which faces Oklahoma in the first round of the College Football Playoff on Friday night.
“We are proud to have Coach DeBoer leading our football program at The University of Alabama,” Crimson Tide athletic director Greg Byrne said in Sunday’s previous statement. “He is an incredible coach and does an excellent job with the development of our student-athletes, both on and off the field. Just as he is committed to this team, we are committed to him, and we look forward to taking the field Friday in the first round of the College Football Playoff.”
DeBoer’s statement came after Ryan Williams and other players mentioned rumors on social media being difficult to avoid.
“Yeah, of course we see it on TV, but I mean, he’s gave his best effort here,” Williams said Friday. “Focused on playing against Oklahoma, we’re not really worried about it. … I mean, at the end of the day, he serves us 100% and that’s our coach, so we’re going to play for him. External noise is external noise, so we just focus on the internal.”
This isn’t the first job opening this cycle where DeBoer’s name immediately emerged. DeBoer denied previous speculation about the Penn State vacancy prior to the Nittany Lions’ hiring of Matt Campbell, but had not addressed the Michigan situation until Sunday.
DeBoer and the Crimson Tide’s chief focus can now be on the Sooners after a previous loss to Oklahoma last month put Alabama in several playoff elimination games down the stretch. The Crimson Tide suffered three giveaways during that 23-21 setback in Tuscaloosa despite doubling Oklahoma in total yardage and largely dominating the contest.
The Alabama-Oklahoma winner plays unbeaten and top-seeded Indiana at the Rose Bowl in the quarterfinals.
