The No. 9 Alabama Crimson Tide are preparing for their first-round College Football Playoff game against No. 8 Oklahoma on Dec. 20.
Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer has successfully led Alabama into the playoff in his second season in Tuscaloosa. Although some believed Alabama would be left out after its 28-7 loss to Georgia in the SEC championship game, the Tide made the field as the No. 9 seed.
It’s a significant improvement for DeBoer’s team, which failed to make the playoff in his first season at Alabama in 2024. However, DeBoer’s name has surfaced recently following Michigan’s head coaching vacancy last week.
Here’s the latest on DeBoer’s loose connection to the Michigan job.
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Is Kalen DeBoer leaving Alabama for Michigan?
At this point, it appears that DeBoer is staying put in Tuscaloosa. In fact, the head coach released a statement on Dec. 14, re-affirming his commitment to Alabama:
— Yea Alabama (@yea_ala) December 14, 2025
During a press conference on Monday, Dec. 15, DeBoer was asked again about the rumors connecting him to the Michigan job.
“All right, I put out a statement yesterday,” DeBoer said via MLive. “First of all, our guys handle distractions phenomenally. It’s been that way all season long. They continue to do that.”
“[I] feel completely supported,” DeBoer continued. “My family loves living here. Just all the things that we continue to build on. Love the progress.”
The coach added that he hasn’t talked with anyone about leaving Alabama, and has “no plans of talking with anyone. That’s a lot of what I said a couple weeks ago, and it continues to be the same thing. I feel strong about.”
Alabama AD Greg Byrne also released a statement re-affirming his commitment and support of DeBoer:
We are proud to have Coach DeBoer leading our football program at The University of Alabama. 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,… https://t.co/q4FymqqtOX
— Greg Byrne (@Greg_Byrne) December 14, 2025
DeBoer was also linked to the open Penn State job earlier this month, but he shot down those rumors before Alabama played Georgia on Dec. 6.
"We're extremely happy at Alabama," DeBoer said via ESPN. "We're extremely happy here, love the challenge, love the grind, love this place. There's never been any link, there's never been any conversation, there's never been any interest either way. So I'm glad we can put that to bed right now."
Penn State ended up hiring Matt Campbell from Iowa State earlier this month.
Last week, Michigan became the latest big-name school to enter the coaching carousel. The school announced it was firing Sherrone Moore for cause after it was revealed he had an affair with a member of UM's football staff.
Moore was later arrested hours after his firing, and has since been charged with breaking and entering, stalking and a third-degree misdemeanor home invasion.
DeBoer is in his second season with Alabama, compiling a 19-7 record with the Tide over two seasons. It's still early in his tenure, but there are plenty of reasons as to why DeBoer could be linked to the Michigan job.
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Why would Kalen DeBoer go to Michigan?
For starters, things haven’t always gone smoothly for DeBoer in Tuscaloosa. He appeared to be on the hot seat after Alabama’s 2024 finish, which came in just his first season at the helm. The Tide seemed on track for a College Football Playoff bid last season, with one-score losses to Vanderbilt and Tennessee entering late November.
That changed with an embarrassing 24-3 road loss to Oklahoma on Nov. 23, which knocked Alabama out of playoff contention. The Tide then fell 19-13 to Michigan in the ReliaQuest Bowl to finish 9-4. Alabama opened the 2025 season with a 31-17 Week 1 road loss to Florida State.
DeBoer worked his way back into fans’ good graces as the season progressed. Alabama beat then-No. 5 Georgia 24-21 on the road Sept. 27, then added wins over ranked Vanderbilt, Missouri and Tennessee. The Tide later lost 23-21 on the road to Oklahoma but rebounded with a win over Auburn to clinch a spot in the SEC championship game.
Against Georgia in Atlanta, however, Alabama turned in an abysmal performance. In the 28-7 loss, the Tide were held to minus-3 rushing yards and just 209 yards of total offense, finishing 3-for-14 on third down. The showing was so poor that many expected Alabama to be left out of the CFP.
Instead, the committee awarded Alabama a bid, and the Tide will now look to earn their first win over Oklahoma in three meetings over the past year.
If Alabama has another poor performance against the Sooners, Tide fans could be calling for a coaching change yet again. If Alabama was to fire DeBoer, the school would owe him over $60 million, per USA Today.
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Kalen DeBoer Michigan ties
DeBoer has spent a lot of his coaching career in the state of Washington. He was UW's head coach from 2022-23, compiling a 25-3 record over two seasons, and leading the Huskies to a CFP national title in 2023. Prior to his two seasons at Fresno State, he was the offensive coordinator at Eastern Michigan for three seasons. From 2014-16, he was on-staff under Eagles head coach Chris Creighton.
EMU is in Ypsilanti, Michigan, which sits just roughly 10 miles east of Ann Arbor. From 2010-2013, he coached at Southern Illinois as offensive coordinator, just a couple states over from Michigan. He was at Sioux Falls in South Dakota from 2000-2009, first as their offensive coordinator before becoming the head coach from 2005-09. He was the wide receivers coach there in 1997 before two seasons as Washington High School's head coach in South Dakota from 1998-99.
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Kalen DeBoer contract details
DeBoer was hired by Alabama in Jan. 2024, and he signed an eight-year contract with the school that goes through 2031. He made $10.25 this season, and if he left for another job, the coach would have to pay the school $4 if he left for another job before Jan. 1, $3 million at any point after.