College football insider dumps a bucket of cold water on rumors of Alabama Crimson Tide HC Kalen DeBoer to Michigan Wolverines

ESPN’s Pete Thamel shines some light on Michigan’s coaching search with Alabama HC Kalen DeBoer as a top candidate.

Josh Taylor, Rob Gregson
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The Alabama Crimson Tide is preparing for the first round matchup of the College Football Playoff against the Oklahoma Sooners, but it once again has another distraction to handle.

As always, Alabama is in the news again after a shocking turn of events at Michigan directly impacts the coaching staff with more rumors. Michigan dropped a bomb when it fired its head coach Sherrone Moore on Wednesday night, and now its crazy search starts.

Just like with the other job openings, head coach Kalen Deboer is the top name mentioned by the media to become the next head coach at Michigan, but one insider says to pump the brakes a little.

Pete Thamel says there are no implications that Kalen DeBoer would be interested in the Michigan job

DeBoer is the odds-on favorite to become the top candidate, but is that even a possibility? It’s a situation that still needs clarity, according to ESPN’s College Football Senior Reporter Pete Thamel, but he also gives some positive news from the Crimson Tide.

“The conversation about this [coaching search] is going to start with Kalen DeBoer of Alabama,” Thamel said on the Pat McAfee Show. “Whether he wants to go, whether Michigan can get him, whether the timing could work, would remain to be seen. I would be skeptical that Kalen DeBoer could navigate the high wire to leave in the middle of the playoff, and also, no one has indicated that he would be interested either. So, I would expect some clarity on that soon, just because the second this job opened, his name was the first to emerge.”

Michigan will be Alabama’s biggest hurdle in keeping Kalen DeBoer

Alabama fans thought they were in the clear from having to worry about DeBoer leaving Alabama, especially as the playoffs start, but that’s not the case anymore. The coaching cycle had a giant wrench thrown in it with a high-profile job at Michigan opening up late.

DeBoer continues to be the hottest name on every opening, and he already publicly shut down his interest in Penn State, but Michigan is the dream job with unlimited resources for a head coach. I asked fellow A to Z Sports Alabama writer Rob Gregson for his thoughts on why Michigan will be a real problem for Alabama.

“The rumors of Kalen DeBoer joining the Michigan Wolverines won’t slow down until Michigan names its head coach and Kalen DeBoer is at winter conditioning with the Alabama Crimson Tide. Whether it was the Penn State rumors or the fact that his name was immediately the top one mentioned after the Sherrone Moore firing, it’s clear that there is smoke about his departure, and where there is smoke in college football, there is obviously fire.”

“Does that mean DeBoer will or should leave? Surely not. But Michigan, one of the biggest programs in college football, is not going to go down without taking a swing at every notable head coaching candidate they can find. And remember, Moore was fired for cause. That means Michigan will have no problem buying out a coach’s current deal and giving him a new one on top of it. Kalen DeBoer is likely knee deep in prep for the Sooners, but if things go awry in that game and Michigan still hasn’t named its next HC, expect the rumors to heat up and even more.” – Rob Gregson, A to Z Sports Alabama

Of course, Alabama has a game to worry about to keep its season alive, but there could be much more on the line as the first team playing in the College Football Playoff. An early exit would only add gas to the flames, and it won’t go away until DeBoer addresses it head-on again, or Michigan hires somebody else.

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