The latest, and possibly biggest, twist in the 2025 coaching carousel came on Wednesday evening when Michigan abruptly fired head coach Sherrone Moore with cause after engaging “in an inappropriate relationship with a staff member,” according to a report from The Athletic’s Nicole Auerbach. The news doesn’t just rock the Big Ten, but could impact the college football world as a whole, considering the candidates that the Wolverines may try to go after.
Michigan has the unfortunate situation of being at the tail end of one of college football’s craziest coaching search months in history; Lane Kiffin has the LSU job, Matt Campbell has the Penn State job, and James Franklin has the Virginia Tech job, among others. The Wolverines are a powerhouse, though, and could sway a top-level coach into leaving their current position.
One of the names immediately tagged as a possible candidate is Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer. On3 Sports listed DeBoer as an option on Wednesday evening.
“DeBoer will surely be a factor in the Michigan search, sources have told On3,” On3 Sports’ Pete Nakos writes. “He has consistently won as an FBS head coach, bringing Washington to a CFP title game berth and now having Alabama in the playoff in his second season in Tuscaloosa. He would have been a popular name at Michigan when Sherrone Moore was hired, but he accepted the Alabama job before the Wolverines were in the market.”
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DeBoer, in his second year with the Alabama program, took the Crimson Tide to the SEC Championship game last weekend. Alabama got trounced by Georgia, but the Tide didn’t lose its spot in the 2025 College Football Playoffs. Alabama will enter the first-round as the 9-seed against the 8-seed Oklahoma.
Prior to the SEC title game, DeBoer was linked as a possible candidate for the Penn State job, before Campbell accepted it. DeBoer strongly dismissed those rumors in a pre-championship press conference last Thursday.
“Yeah, we’re extremely happy at Alabama,” DeBoer said last Thursday. “This is the first time I’ve been asked. I appreciate you, Charlie. 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. I’m glad we can put that to bed right now.”
DeBoer signed an eight-year, $87 million contract with Alabama in January 2024. He’s about to wrap up his second year with the program and has a 19-7 overall record with the Tide to this point. DeBoer is 1-1 against Josh Heupel’s Vols in his two years, with a loss in Knoxville in 2024 and a win in Tuscaloosa in 2025.
Vanderbilt’s Clark Lea and Missouri’s Eli Drinkwitz were also listed as possible candidates on Pete Nakos’ coaching hot board. Check it out here.
