As the college football coaching carousel continued to turn this winter, sitting SEC coaches were repeatedly rumored to be on the short list of other Power 4 teams that were looking to fill head coaching vacancies. One of the top names on that list was Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer, specifically with the Penn State job, who is now being mentioned as one of the potential options for the Michigan Wolverines.
Prior to Alabama’s loss to Georgia in the SEC Championship game, DeBoer emphatically denied any rumors or reports of being attached to the Penn State job. Less than 24 hours later, the Nittany Lions came to an agreement with Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell. But even DeBoer’s outspoken denial of the Penn State search hasn’t led to folks removing him from the Michigan short list.
After the news broke of Sherrone Moore’s firing on Wednesday, On3’s Pete Nakos had DeBoer on his hot board of potential candidates. The SEC Network’s Cole Cubelic posted an early betting odds list for the Wolverines’ next coach, with DeBoer topping the chart at 4-1 odds.
On3 Sports’ Josh Pate doesn’t expect DeBoer to be leaving Tuscaloosa for Ann Arbor, though.
“It’s a name I assume they will circle,” Pate said on ESPN’s Get Up show on Friday. “It’s a name that I would circle if I were them, and I’d make him tell me no. Paul (Finebaum) will have a really good read on this, I think the answer will be no from Kalen DeBoer. I’ve talked to Kalen about this, I’ve heard him speak publicly recently about this when asked about the Penn State job. There’s this misnomer out there, and I think it was mainly created on the internet to make others feel good about their argument to get him, that he’s miserable at Alabama. Which couldn’t be further from the case.”
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Pate offered up his case for why Arizona State’s Kenny Dillingham, who took the Sun Devils to the College Football Playoffs in 2024, would be a strong candidate for Michigan’s open job.
According to Brad Crawford of CBS Sports, DeBoer doesn’t land in the top three of the betting odds, according to SportsLine oddsmakers. It has Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady at +300, Dillingham at +400, and L.A. Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter at +400. DeBoer, meanwhile, is fourth on the list at +500 odds.
Despite some analysts putting them on their original hot boards on Wednesday night, Vanderbilt’s Clark Lea and Missouri’s Eli Drinkwitz don’t even appear on SportsLine’s odds list entirely.
College Football trends can change as easily as the wind these days, but it doesn’t appear as though DeBoer is a likely candidate at this point. We’ll have to wait and see, though. DeBoer is currently gearing up his Alabama team for a College Football Playoff game next Friday against Oklahoma in Norman, OK.
DeBoer is 1-1 in his Alabama tenure against Tennessee. The Volunteers beat the Crimson Tide in Knoxville in 2024, but lost in Tuscaloosa in 2025. The two rivals will meet back up on Oct. 17 in Knoxville during the 2026 football season.
I don’t expect Kalen DeBoer to leave Alabama for Michigan. Another name really intrigues me. pic.twitter.com/of9KMOopSb
— Josh Pate (@JoshPateCFB) December 12, 2025
