Alabama has hired Kalen DeBoer to succeed Nick Saban in Tuscaloosa. DeBoer, who spent the past two seasons at Washington, brings nine years of head-coaching experience (five with an NAIA school) to Alabama, where he faces myriad challenges in sustaining a Saban-like level of success.
Here’s everything we know so far about DeBoer’s deal with Alabama and what you need to know about his past contracts, compensation, bonuses and buyouts.
Kalen DeBoer contract
We don’t yet know the details of DeBoer’s contract with Alabama. For context, Saban was making $11.1 million this season with the Tide and had been working on an eight-year contract that began March 1, 2022, and had been scheduled to pay him at least $93.6 million. The average annual compensation for Power Five programs in 2023 was $5.9 million while the average in the SEC in 2023 was $7.6 million.
Kalen DeBoer salary at Washington
At Washington, DeBoer was working under a contract of just over six years that began in November 2022 and was set to pay him $4.2 million this season and increase by $100,000 annually for a total of $26.7 million. Over his four years as an NCAA Bowl Subdivision head coach — two at Fresno State and two at Washington — DeBoer had earned about $9.9 million, not including bonuses.
From 2014 through 2016, as an assistant coach at Eastern Michigan, DeBoer’s average annual pay was about $140,000. In 2017 and ’18, as an assistant at Fresno State, he averaged $320,000. In 2019, as Indiana’s offensive coordinator, DeBoer was making $800,000, before Fresno State made him its head coach.
Kalen DeBoer bonuses
At Washington this season, DeBoer earned a total of $1.075 million in on-field bonuses, and had been eligible for another $125,000 in bonuses connected to the team’s academic performance. His bonus total for the 2023 season was second-highest among public-school coaches, trailing Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh ($3 million). Louisville’s Jeff Brohm had the third-highest total at $800,000.
This season, DeBoer got:
$50,000 for the team playing in the Pac-12 Conference championship game$100,000 for winning the Pac-12 title$400,000 for the team being selected to play in a College Football Playoff semifinal$450,000 for advancing to the CFP title game$25,000 for being named Pac-12 coach of the year$50,000 for being named national coach of the year, an honor he received from multiple outlets
Kalen DeBoer buyout clause
DeBoer’s contract with Washington called for him to pay the school $12 million if he terminated the agreement on or before Jan. 31, 2025, to take another football coaching job at an NCAA Division I school or with a pro team.
If Washington had fired DeBoer without cause, it would have owed all of the basic annual compensation remaining under the deal, subject to his duty to make good-faith efforts to find another job, with the income from that position offsetting what Washington would have owed him.
His buyout terms with Alabama have not yet been made public by the school.