Behind The Crimson Rope: How Alabama's Hiring Of Kalen DeBoer Went Down

PublishedJanuary 14, 2024 4:25 PM EST|UpdatedJanuary 14, 2024 4:25 PM EST

TUSCALOOSA, Alabama - Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne was not caught with his pants down Wednesday afternoon when much of the college football world was.

Even some members of Alabama coach Nick Saban's family told friends as recently as last week that Saban "had another year of coaching left in him."

On Wednesday shortly before 5 p.m. eastern time, Nick Saban, 72, made it official. He was retiring from coaching after nearly 50 years, including the last 17 as head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide. But Byrne knew already.

Alabama Crimson Tide's Changing Of The Coach

"He was very transparent with us. I couldn't have asked for better communication," Byrne said Saturday afternoon in a huddle with reporters inside Bryant-Denny Stadium after new coach Kalen DeBoer's introductory press conference.

"I'm not going to give you an exact date of when I knew," Byrne said. "But I would not say I was surprised. We had been working on that for quite a while. We had an entire plan to the hour of what we were going to do."

Saban letting ESPN writer Chris Low know on Wednesday afternoon set everything off.

Regardless of when he knew, Byrne had been preparing for that moment last week since he left the Arizona athletic director job to be Alabama's athletic director in 2017.

Alabama Athletic Director Greg Byrne Felt Pressure

"Was there pressure? Listen, when I came to Alabama, the day we had the press conference, I only got asked 9,723 times what it's going to feel like to be the guy who's going to hire Nick Saban's replacement," Byrne said Saturday. "We're going to kick that can down the road as far and for as long as we possibly can. I certainly felt a huge responsibility. You walk through that tunnel on game day, that's pretty dang cool."

Greg Byrne kept a list of prospective head coaches, as most athletic directors do, and always watched coaches work. He also knew that with the start of the NCAA Transfer Portal in 2021, he had to be ready to move extremely quick more than ever as players flood the portal after their head coach leaves. At the same time, he didn't want to do too much advance work, so as not to be perceived to be pushing Saban out. Or Saban could push him out.

"I felt such a responsibility to be as prepared as you possibly could be," he said. "And at the same time, because of the respect I have for coach Saban and the desire for him to go as long as he wanted to go, I wanted to make sure that (this never happened)."

He didn't want to see, "Well, I heard Greg was out talking to other coaches," on social media or overhear that somewhere.

"Make sure you were being efficient," he said. "Make sure you're being thoughtful, but you also had to keep going."

And then, the can landed.

Nick Saban To Kalen DeBoer As Alabama Coach Timeline

-4 P.M. CENTRAL TIME, WEDNESDAY, JAN. 10, TUSCALOOSA - ESPN's Chris Low breaks the Saban retirement story. Byrne tells Saban he wants to talk to the team as soon as Saban finishes. He tells the Tide players he needs 72 hours to find a coach, and to please hold off on entering the transfer portal. Then he meets with the members of players' leadership team and spells out the priorities he was looking for in a coach. Byrne would finish the job about 24 hours early.

-4:30 P.M. - Byrne meets with Saban's assistant coaching staff.

"Because that's the right thing to do," he said Saturday. Typically after coaching changes, most of the head coach's staff is not retained. That will likely be the case with DeBoer, who plans on bringing in most of his staff at Washington.

-5:30 P.M. - Byrne meets with eight people from the athletic department. Their mission? Block the NCAA Transfer Portal exits.

"We had a few folks from our athletic department and the football program who were boots on the ground," he said. "And as soon as I got done meeting with the leadership team, we gathered. I said, 'We're going to divide up the roster, and you're going to stay in constant contact. Don't wait for them to come to you. You go to them. Any questions they have, answer them.' Byrne also tapped former Alabama players.

"All that was saying was, 'We've got to stay together through this thing,'" Byrne said.

Alabama is hopeful of minimal portal losses. It did lose top wide receiver Isaiah Bond to the portal late last week. On Sunday, the sophomore announced he would transfer to Texas.

-7:30 P.M. - The physical coaching search begins.

"I left town that night," Byrne said. "And I was on the road until Friday afternoon. It was something the entire time. Nick was awesome. We talked several times."

Alabama's Greg Byrne Interviewed Kalen DeBoer Thursday

7 P.M. PACIFIC TIME, THURSDAY, JAN. 11, SEATTLE - Greg Bryne and his wife Regina have dinner with Washington coach Kalen DeBoer and his wife Nicole downtown.

"He was awesome," Byrne said. "I had never met him before."

While Mississippi State's athletic director, Byrne hired Florida offensive coordinator Dan Mullen to be the Bulldogs' head coach after the 2008 season. Mullen became State's best coach in history before taking the Florida job after the 2017 season.

"I hired Dan Mullen at 2:30 in the morning at the Embassy Suites in Buckhead (Atlanta). And I'd never met Dan before that day. But early on, I'm like, 'This guy's really good.' And I sensed the same thing right away with coach DeBoer. The guy's very smart. The best coaches I've ever hired all have one thing in common besides a strong work ethic and good integrity. They're smart. You spend five minutes with coach DeBoer, you sense that right away."

But did he have the makeup to follow the swath of Saban - six national championships and nine SEC titles at Alabama?

Kalen DeBoer Is 'Comfortable In His Skin,' Says Greg Byrne

"You better have someone who's comfortable in their own skin," Byrne said. "And someone who looks at this as a challenge and an opportunity, not as a detriment. Kalen has that. Almost immediately for coach DeBoer and Nicole, they saw this as a wonderful opportunity. Not a negative."

There were other candidates. Florida State coach Mike Norvell was the only other prominent one, though. Alabama showed no interest in Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin, a former ultra successful offensive coordinator at Alabama under Saban who dramatically changed the Tide's pass offense from 2014-16. Kiffin is also winning at Ole Miss.

And there was some contact with Texas coach Steve Sarkisian, also a former Alabama offensive coordinator under Saban winning big at Texas. Tommy Rees, who was Saban's offensive coordinator in the 2023 season with mixed results, drew brief consideration only.

"Coach DeBoer was not the only candidate interviewed," Byrne said. "I can tell you that."

The other one was most likely Norvell.

11 P.M. PACIFIC TIME TIME, THURSDAY, JAN. 11, SEATTLE - It is down to two candidates - DeBoer and Norvell.

"I knew this was the right move," DeBoer said Saturday. "I knew this was a thing, not that I had to do, but I really wanted to do. But it wasn't easy. That's not a knock on Alabama and everything it stands for. That's highlighting everything I feel so strong about back in Seattle at Washington."

FRIDAY A.M., JAN. 12, SEATTLE - Everything got worked out with DeBoer and after that, new deals for Norvell and Sarkisian at Florida State and Texas went public.

"I came in yesterday (Friday) afternoon back to Tuscaloosa," Byrne said Saturday.

3 P.M. PACIFIC TIME FRIDAY, SEATTLE (5 P.M. CENTRAL TIME IN TUSCALOOSA) - DeBoer signs a memorandum of understanding (pre-contract) to be Alabama's next football coach.

5:06 P.M., TUSCALOOSA - Byrne tweets out the news.

"They (the DeBoers) came in last night, and here we are," Byrne said Saturday.

8:35 P.M. CENTRAL TIME, FRIDAY, TUSCALOOSA - The DeBoers land at the Tuscaloosa Airport. Byrne has been there for 35 minutes waiting to greet them.

"The plane landed, and all those people were out there at the airport when Regina and I showed up to greet them," Byrne said. "And then we come down and everybody’s lining the sidewalks there. And we go across the river and go through downtown, and people are lined up there. And you go through The Strip, and everybody’s going crazy."

The SEC slogan, "It just means more," jumped into Byrne's mind.

"And until you’re here, you really don’t completely grasp that," he said.

New Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer Saturday with former Alabama coach Nick Saban watching over him. (Photo By OutKick's Glenn Guilbeau).

2:45 P.M. CENTRAL TIME, SATURDAY, TUSCALOOSA - New Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer huddles with reporters in a Bryant-Denny Stadium suite.

"It's an honor to be the head coach at the University of Alabama," he says. "But also understanding that you're going to follow Nick Saban. I don't take that lightly. I take it as quite an honor, to be honest with you. I don't think there are any comparisons you can make."