There was no perfect way for Alabama to move on after Nick Saban’s retirement; replacing the greatest college football coach of all time comes with a multitude of challenges. But after a several weeks of work that included having to retool the group amid NFL exits, first-year Crimson Tide coach Kalen DeBoer appears to have settled on his assistant coaches for the 2024 season.
The hiring process was difficult. DeBoer had to decide how much Washington he was going to bring from a staff that had been together across multiple stops — for some, all the way back to his NAIA days at Sioux Falls — with the existing Alabama influence of staff members who were interested in helping lead the program into its post-Saban era. Those tough decisions, of course, are happening with the background of a wide-open transfer portal for Crimson Tide players who had the opportunity to leave without penalty due to the NCAA rules regarding movement in wake of a coaching change.
Just when it seemed DeBoer had finalized the staff, another wrinkle was thrown in with the Seattle Seahawks hiring away offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb and offensive line coach Scott Huff just days after National Signing Day. Grubb was one of those coaches who had been with DeBoer all the way back to his time at Sioux Falls, and over the last two seasons at Washington he had risen to become one of the most respected offensive minds in the modern game. Huff was a big loss, too, as he was part of Chris Petersen’s staff at Boise State and across two different stints at Washington. He helped lead dominant offensive lines, including the group that won the Joe Moore Award in 2023.
So, in mid-February, DeBoer was tasked with going back through the hiring process to finalize his staff before the…
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