Kalen DeBoer and the Alabama Crimson Tide dealt an unexpected loss after College Football Playoff win over Oklahoma

Kalen DeBoer will have to make a key offensive hire following latest development after win over Oklahoma.

Brandon Little, Rob Gregson
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The Alabama Crimson Tide took a bit to get going in the first round of the College Football Playoff, but when they did, it was enough to take firm control in the win over the Oklahoma Sooners. 

With the win over Oklahoma, not only did Alabama advance to play the No. 1 Indiana Hoosiers, but it also put to rest talk of head coach Kalen DeBoer taking a job elsewhere. A day after the big win over the Sooners, news has broken that the Crimson Tide will lose an offensive assistant. 

Alabama QB coach Nick Sheridan set to go to Michigan State

According to CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz, the Crimson Tide is expected to lose co-offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Nick Sheridan to the Michigan State Spartans. Sheridan is set to become the offensive coordinator on newly hired Pat Fitzgerald’s staff. Sheridan spent the last four seasons working under DeBoer, between two years at Alabama and two seasons as the right ends coach at Washington.  

Sheridan takes his second offensive coordinator job at 37, after getting his start in coaching as a graduate assistant in 2011 at Western Kentucky. Sheridan spent 2014-2016 as a graduate assistant with the Tennessee Volunteers and then coached tight ends at Indiana in 2019. The Maine native served as the Hoosiers’ offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2021 and 2022. 

Alabama’s biggest coaching worry should be in the past

DeBoer’s name has been in more than a few coaching searches this offseason. Where there is smoke, there tends to be fire in college football, and whether it was Penn State or Michigan thereafter, DeBoer was a popular name in circles. The only way to quiet that noise was to win. Beating Oklahoma in round one of the College Football Playoff should all but solidify DeBoer’s standing going forward. His statements regarding the Penn State job and again last weekend gave optimism that he would be back in 2026. 

However, when Alabama was down 17-0 on Friday night, many wondered whether DeBoer and his Tide had mailed it in. The subsequent 27-0 run and final score of 34-24 prove otherwise. Now, despite all the noise and the way the team had played in their last five games, the Crimson Tide is smelling the roses and looking to knock off the Hoosiers on New Year’s Day.

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