Washington Athletic Director Reveals How Much Money Kalen DeBoer Declined To Take Alabama Job
Kalen DeBoer has been on a meteoric rise up the coaching ranks of college football. The 49-year-old was named the successor to Nick Saban at Alabama just four years after getting his first opportunity as a head coach on the FBS level.
That isn’t to say that DeBoer hasn’t earned every opportunity. He went 67-3 as the head coach of Sioux Falls from 2005 to 2009, which propelled him to lead four strong offenses at Southern Illinois, Eastern Michigan, Fresno State and Indiana. He went 12-6 in his return to Fresno as head coach before taking Washington to a College Football Playoff national championship in year two.
By all accounts, DeBoer is a fantastic coach. Things have just moved very quickly.
That includes his transition from Seattle to Tuscaloosa.
Troy Dannen, the athletic director of Washington, was surprised to learn that DeBoer would be leaving after the 2023–2024 college football season. Dannen was hired in October. Particularly with all that was going on behind the scenes.
Speaking earlier this week at the Bellevue Chamber luncheon, Dannen provided some context for what DeBoer turned down in order to accept the position with the Crimson Tide. When contract discussions started during his first month on campus, he made reference to a sizable financial offer, albeit he did not initially provide a precise figure.
We presented [DeBoer] with figures that were, to put it mildly, unheard of at this university. Instead of putting a Pac-12 bundle in front of Kalen, we put a Big Ten package.
— Troy Dannen, via The Seattle TimesAnd then, as the luncheon conversation continued, Dannen spilled the tea.
We had an $8.7 million annual contract in front of Kalen at Thanksgiving. After the Sugar Bowl, we had a $9.4 [million annual contract] on the table, which would have put him in the top eight in the country.
— Troy Dannen, via The Seattle Times
He also said that DeBoer and his agent, Jimmy Sexton, did not even counter Washington’s offer. They left the $9.4 million contract extension behind and took the job at Alabama.
Although DeBoer said all of the right things about his future prior to his departure, Dannen was not comfortable without a signature. As a result, he started to move in silence and prepared for the possibility of a coaching search.
Even former head coach Chris Peterson was contacted by the recently appointed athletic director to solicit input. They discussed a few options to take DeBoer’s place both before and after it became imperative.
Prior to Alabama calling me last Thursday [for an interview with DeBoer], Chris was in my office going over a list of persons that I had given him. With whom was he in love? Who wasn’t he fond of? Who were the individuals that I had left off my list? I then removed Chris from it. Although I didn’t have him in my regular meetings, I still used him. He wasn’t with me during the interviews. However, I spoke with him every day.
— Troy Dannen, via The Seattle TimesThe Huskies ultimately hired Jedd Fisch. Meanwhile, Kalen DeBoer is working to rebuild the Crimson Tide roster while assembling an impressive staff around him.
