The head coach opening with the Alabama Crimson Tide was always set to cause a stir when it opened up. Following the news of Nick Saban’s retirement this week and Dan Lanning’s staying with Oregon, the next favorite to land in Tuscaloosa is Washington Huskies head coach Kalen DeBoer.

The latest college football rumors pin DeBoer to the Crimson Tide opening despite a large contract buyout with the Huskies. But how these rumors became mainstream is true to college football fandom’s folklore.

DeBoer’s name was originally listed among the possible candidates to replace Saban, but it wasn’t until Lanning officially turned down any rumors of his placement with the Tide that the DeBoer rumors sped up. DeBoer’s name couldn’t have been any hotter when the sun rose on the East Coast on Friday, January 12.

Anytime your coach misses their weekly radio appearance around speculation of their joining a new program, fans will certainly grow wary. And that’s exactly what happened on Friday.

Local Seattle radio station 93.3 KJR hosted coach DeBoer during a weekly appearance on Friday mornings. However, the station warned fans that they wouldn’t be interviewing DeBoer during their weekly segment on Friday.

#Husky fans, we know you were looking forward to a visit with Coach DeBoer this morning.
Please understand that Coach DeBoer & UW Athletics are continuing to work towards a future we can all be excited about.
At this time, Coach will not be joining us this morning, but we will…

— 93.3 KJR (@933KJR) January 12, 2024

“Please understand that Coach DeBoer & UW Athletics are continuing to work towards a future we can all be excited about,” the post reads.

The first portion certainly gives hope. However, it was followed up with a potential doom-and-gloom sentiment.

“At this time, Coach will not be joining us this morning, but we will reschedule our interview soon,” KJR finished.

Without drawing too firm of any conclusion, it’s clear that DeBoer is busy with either the Washington Athletics Department or as fans fear, the Alabama Athletics Department. Time will tell, and the dollar signs will flow if DeBoer does indeed head to Alabama (he has a $12M buyout clause in his contract).

But at this point, Washington fans can absolutely start to worry. If they haven’t already.

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