ESPN REPORT: Details on Kalen DeBoer suspension.
TUSCALOOSA, Alabama Greg Byrne’s cellphone was inundated with text messages—more than 1,000 at this point.
The events of roughly two and a half hours earlier that afternoon were still fresh in the mind of Alabama’s athletic director, as they were for most in the college football world.
Declaring his retirement to his players, Nick Saban entered the team meeting room at the Mal M. Moore Athletic Facility. One of the greatest coaching stints in American sports history came to an end at Alabama after 17 seasons, 206 victories, nine SEC titles, and six national titles.
Byrne’s clock was ticking.
He recognized the magnitude of his assignment and the enormous difficulty of selecting a legend’s replacement.
“When you’re approaching a historic transition like that, you think about when Coach [Bear] Bryant retired, when John Wooden retired, but it’s also different now because of the transfer portal and NIL,” Byrne stated. “But from an impact on a university and the sport itself, it’s as big a change as there has been in a long time.”
After six minutes of talking with his players, Saban exited the room. The team was subsequently informed by Byrne that a new coach would be appointed in less than 72 hours.
“It turned out to be 49. “I wanted to give myself some cushion because I thought I would beat the 72-hour window,” Byrne stated.
On January 10, at 5:06 PM ET, Saban’s meeting with his players came to a conclusion. Byrne revealed on social media that Washington’s Kalen DeBoer was Saban’s replacement at 6:06 p.m. ET on January 12. The photo showed smoke rising from a chimney, similar to what the Vatican does when a new pope is appointed, but this time it was the chimney of a BBQ restaurant in Tuscaloosa.
Through interviews with the concerned principals as well as other industry insiders, ESPN retraced that mind-boggling week that marked the beginning of an unprecedented period for Alabama football and, in some respects, changed the face of the entire sport.
The creation of this illustration for ESPN’s Byrne’s Two-Day Hurricane took a whole year. Saban told Byrne he was approaching the end of his Hall of Fame coaching tenure following the 2022 campaign.
“Greg, I’m finding this harder and harder,” Saban said to Byrne. “I’m not ready to do it now, but we’re going to have to start evaluating this more on a year-to-year basis.”
Although Byrne was hoping that Saban would continue as coach, he knew in his heart that the 72-year-old icon was giving him notice, so he got to work. Byrne’s crew conducted a study on the college head coaches hired from the top 25 winning programs over the previous 25 years.
“Part of what I was trying to understand is what were the analytics, and our studies showed that 75% of the time you’re basically hiring a Group of 5 head coach, Power 5 coordinator or NFL coordinator,” Byrne stated. “That’s not necessarily a negative, but when it comes to the theory that you’re going to hire just whoever you want, the percentages don’t support that.”
However, since this was Alabama, the Tide could aim higher than most other college.
Although last season’s start was difficult by Bama’s standards, Saban was incredibly proud of how much the team progressed. The Tide won 11 games in a row, ending the 29-game winning streak of the Bulldogs, the two-time defending national champions, with a 27-24 triumph over Georgia in the SEC title game.
“We weren’t a very good team those first few weeks of the season, but it’s a credit to those kids how far they came,” Saban stated. “I’m not sure I’ve had a team that improved more over the course of the season.”
However, Saban found it difficult to accept Alabama’s 27-20 overtime loss to Michigan in the CFP semifinal played in the Rose Bowl on January 1. In addition to being disappointed with his team’s performance, Saban was particularly dejected by several events that transpired following the game, including his meetings with some of the players back on campus and in the locker room at the Rose Bowl.
Regarding his choice to retire, Saban stated, “I want to be clear that wasn’t the reason, but some of those events certainly contributed.” “The players’ behavior following the game truly let me down. You must prevail with grace. You must fail the class. We had our chances to win the game, but we didn’t, so acting like an asshole, getting angry, tossing helmets, and doing other such things isn’t who we are or what our program is about.”
It was even more evident to Saban that his message was not connecting with players once he returned to Tuscaloosa and started speaking with them.
“I thought we could have a hell of a team next year, and then maybe 70 or 80 percent of the players you talk to, all they want to know is two things: What assurances do I have that I’m going to play because they’re thinking about transferring, and how much are you going to pay me?” Saban narrated. “The foundation of our program has always been the value we can add to your future, personal growth, academic achievement, and opportunity to play in the NFL.
“Maybe this isn’t working anymore, that the objectives have changed, and now it’s just about how much money I can make as a college athlete,” I’m telling myself. That’s not a negative thing, per se. I’m not saying it’s incorrect; I’m simply pointing out that it’s not our core values and the reason we’ve succeeded over the years.”
Saban, too, had become tired of changing assistant coaches year. For instance, Saban’s sixth offensive coordinator in the previous 11 years, Tommy Rees, was hired during the 2023 summer; occasionally, there were practically total overhauls. Seven assistants left for other positions after the 2018 season. Saban could see that hiring coaches was starting to take his age into consideration.
“People wanted assurances that I was going to be here for three or four years, and it became harder to make those assurances,” Saban stated. “But the thing I loved about coaching the most was the relationships that you had with players, and those things didn’t seem to have the same meaning as they once did.”
Thursday, January 4, marked the departure of Saban and his spouse Terry from their Los Angeles flight and their arrival at their Jupiter Island, Florida, residence. After the season, they always take a few days off, but this particular trip was unique.
In addition to his advanced age, Nick Saban stated that his decision to retire was influenced by the evolving landscape of collegiate football. Mercer, John David/USA TODAY Sports
“That’s one of the reasons we went, to discuss whether I would keep coaching,” stated Saban. “However, she was unaware. I was genuinely ignorant. I simply don’t think about it during the season, but that was the right time for us to discuss and consider it.”
The next Monday night, January 8, they went back to Tuscaloosa. They had some thoughtful discussions while they were in Florida, but they didn’t come to a conclusion.
“I don’t know if there’s ever a good time to do it,” Saban stated. “I thought a lot of things were beginning to be impacted by my age. It becomes increasingly difficult to maintain at the level you want to and feel like you’re doing a fantastic job as you get older.”
Saban said he spoke with Hall of Fame coach Bill Parcells, who resides in Florida, while he was there. In addition, Saban claimed to have discussed his choice with former Alabama coach Gene Stallings.
“Both of them said you never know quite when it’s the right time, but you kind of also know in the back of your mind when it’s the right time,” added Saban. “And that’s sort of the way I was feeling.”
While in Florida, Saban called Byrne, who was still debating his choice, to find out if he would be in Tuscaloosa on Tuesday. Byrne would usually meet Saban in his office because the man was always so busy with football-related responsibilities. Saban went to Byrne’s office this time, though. They conversed for about sixty minutes.
“I wasn’t going to believe it until I heard it from him for sure, and he still didn’t say it was for sure,” said Byrne.
However, Byrne was aware of the apparent direction of events.
Wednesday, January 10th, Saban arrived to work at his usual time, approximately 7 a.m. Even the employees who had worked with him the longest claimed that nothing had changed.
However, that is only him. “He was going to work until the very end, and that’s what he did,” stated Jeff Allen, the head athletic trainer who arrived in Alabama in 2007 alongside Nick Saban. “It’s a big part of why he’s the best to ever do it, that singular focus.”
That Wednesday, Saban had a meeting with members of his staff and interviewed potential assistant coaches via Zoom. Even for him, the enormity of what he was about to undertake seemed unreal.
While I’m talking to Ms. Terry and observing the time, I realize that you have a team meeting soon. I suppose I wasn’t very certain either,” Saban remarked. “I felt that now was the ideal moment for us. The way it would affect the university, the players, the coaches, and the program itself didn’t set well with me. That was the most difficult aspect of it. However, it seemed obvious that it would occur eventually, and I didn’t want to see the program through to the end.
“It was just the right time.”
Greg Byrne, the athletic director at Alabama, saw Kalen DeBoer as a front-runner right away. Mercer, John David/USA TODAY Sports
SABAN WAS adamant about giving his players the news first, and he did it in the team meeting area. Byrne was there, as were staff people from Alabama football. After Saban left the room, there was an unsettling silence until Byrne approached the platform and addressed the players. He then had a meeting with the team’s leadership group and used his conference room to hold an internal discussion with the administrative staff.
On Wednesday night, as Byrne was leaving the university, he started contacting former players from all eras. He spoke with DeVonta Smith, Jalen Hurts, Mark Ingram, and Joe Namath.
“Not to discuss candidates, but it was more, ‘What do you think if you were in my shoes?'” Byrne stated. “Because they may have had a piece of information I hadn’t thought about, which is good.”
According to Byrne, the university’s alignment with the board of trustees and president Stuart Bell was as significant.
“Everyone was prepared and in agreement,” Byrne stated.
Mike Norvell of Florida State and DeBoer of Washington were at the top of Byrne’s list from the beginning. Both had what Byrne was searching for—a head coach with track record, someone who had triumphed in a major game and demonstrated an ability to develop players. Byrne refused to elaborate on his pecking order or who he spoke to first. But the day after Saban’s retirement, he had serious talks with both coaches.
Byrne communicated with Bell, Saban, and Mike Brock, the chair of the board of trustees’ athletics committee, during the interview process. Byrne was dealing with just one agent because Jimmy Sexton is Norvell’s and DeBoer’s representative.
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Soon after, rumors circulated suggesting that Ole Miss’s Lane Kiffin and Clemson’s Dabo Swinney would be good contenders. Kiffin worked under Saban at Alabama, where Swinney was both a player and coach. Both played for Alabama teams that won national titles.
Byrne claimed that discussions regarding a few possibilities were taking place in his circle, but sources informed ESPN that Swinney and Kiffin were not a strong contender. Steve Sarkisian of Texas, who like Kiffin is represented by Sexton, was another well-known name brought up in media stories. However, sources stated that Alabama’s administration was aware that Sarkisian would not be leaving Texas, particularly since the Longhorns will be joining the SEC the following season.
At 11:50 p.m. ET on Thursday, Sarkisian, as was to be expected, posted on social media with the caption “Horns up” and declared it to be a great day to be a Longhorn. ESPN revealed a day later that Sarkisian and Texas were getting close to signing a contract extension.
Earlier on Thursday, Oregon’s Dan Lanning clarified that he was not a contender, refuting false rumors that he had been observed in Tuscaloosa. Lanning was Saban’s graduate assistant at Alabama. After spending two seasons in Eugene, Lanning, who is also represented by Sexton, confirmed his decision to stay put in a video that was released at noon on Thursday.
By then Byrne was closing up on his two main targets, so it didn’t really matter. On Thursday, he and his spouse Regina met DeBoer and his spouse Nicole in Seattle’s downtown. That day, there were also important talks with Norvell.
As a matter of fact, early on Friday morning, Florida State officials feared Norvell was on the verge of exchanging his garnet for Alabama crimson. According to sources who spoke to ESPN, Florida State would not hesitate to act in such a scenario, and Kiffin would be a strong contender to succeed Norvell.
Although Norvell, who is in his fourth season at FSU and guided the Seminoles to an ACC championship and a 13-1 record, would not comment on whether he received an offer to join Alabama, he did admit to ESPN later on Friday afternoon that the previous day had been hectic while he thought about his choices.
“You respect the place. You respect the position,” Norvell said of Alabama. “At the end of the day, it still boils down to the proper fit. The place you wish to be still matters.”
On Friday at 11:51 a.m., athletic director Michael Alford tweeted that an agreement with Norvell had been reached, which sent sighs of relief throughout the FSU campus. Then, at 12:07 p.m., Norvell announced on social media that he would not be moving.
News of Norvell’s agreement to a contract extension that would pay him more than $10 million a year for the next eight years quickly spread. A portion of the deal involved guaranteeing Norvell increased funding for his football administrative staff as well as an increased recruiting budget. A new stand-alone
