Kalen DeBoer is the betting favorite by the odds to be Alabama's next head football coach from our best college football betting sites.
Nick Saban's surprise retirement was the news of the week in college football following Michigan's victory over Washington in the 2024 College Football Championship.
Now, Huskies head coach Kalen DeBoer may be following Michigan's Jim Harbaugh in potentially leaving for a new opportunity. Our look at Harbaugh's next team odds have him expected to land an NFL job, while DeBoer is the favorite by Alabama's next head coach odds following Saban's departure.
With Alabama's College Football Championship odds rising in the wake of Saban's announcement, expect the Crimson Tide to try to fill this monumental hole sooner than later.
Alabama's next head coach odds
Odds courtesy FanDuel as of Jan. 12.
| Candidate | Odds (FanDuel) |
|---|---|
| Kalen DeBoer | -175 |
| Dabo Swinney | +600 |
| Mike Norvell | +600 |
| Lane Kiffin | +1000 |
| DeMeco Ryans | +1800 |
| James Franklin | +4000 |
| Pat Shurmur | +4000 |
| Billy Napier | +5000 |
| Brian Daboll | +5000 |
| Dan Lanning | +5000 |
Favorite to be Alabama's next head coach
DeBoer guided the Washington Huskies to a 14-1 record during the 2023 college football season and a Pac-12 Championship win over Oregon to earn his team a berth in the 2024 national championship game, where they lost 34-13 to Michigan.
That was the crown achievement thus far for the 49-year-old coach. DeBoer went 12-6 over one-and-a-half years at Fresno State before jumping to Washington and accumulating a 25-3 record over his first two seasons at the helm. His recent accomplishments could be enough to quench the thirst for flare in Alabama following Saban's retirement.
DeBoer also has age on his side, as he would potentially be replacing the 72-year-old Saban, who had been the head coach of the Crimson Tide since 2007. It's unlikely anyone in Alabama wants to repeat this process in the near future after ne arly two decades of stability.
DeBoer's odds to be Alabama's next head coach plummeted from an opening number of +300 to -175 early Friday morning amid reports he canceled a local in-person radio spot.
Alabama next head coach pick
Vrabel shares the longest odds on the board with Bill Belichick, who recently parted ways with the New England Patriots. But the 48-year-old is the much likelier candidate of the two.
A Hall of Fame player with the Ohio State Buckeyes, Vrabel was recently unceremoniously fired by the Tennessee Titans following a better-than-it-should-have-been 6-11 season. He was widely expected to be in the running to replace Belichick with the Patriots, but that job went to Jerod Mayo on Friday morning.
Vrabel is still expected to have his choice of NFL opportunities as one of the best available names in the head coaching market, but the all ure (and financial means) of the Crimson Tide could rival any of those offers. Saban signed an eight-year contract extension with Alabama in August 2022 that was valued at roughly $93.6 million. Vrabel's annual salary with the Titans was believed to be around $9.5 million.
One also has to consider that Alabama has something much closer to a championship-level roster than any NFL team currently looking for a head coach.
This is undoubtedly a long shot, but the +10000 odds for Vrabel are much more appealing than FanDuel's +1800 for DeMeco Ryans to take the Alabama job while preparing his Houston Texans for an NFL playoff game.
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