New Alabama soccer coach Kalen DeBoer is extremely completed, with a 104–12 as head coach throughout all divisions, a slew of Coach of the 12 months awards and a visit to the nationwide championship recreation.
For all of that success, there’s one factor he doesn’t deliver to the job vacated by Nick Saban: SEC expertise.
In 4 seasons as an FBS-level head coach, DeBoer has not confronted one SEC program, and his expertise in opposition to SEC groups as an entire is extraordinarily restricted.
Gary Cosby Jr&interval;/Tuscaloosa Information/USA TODAY Community
Coincidentally, his final recreation in opposition to an SEC program got here in opposition to Alabama in 2017, his first season as offensive coordinator at Fresno State. His Bulldogs traveled to Tuscaloosa, falling to the eventual-national-champion Crimson Tide, 41–10. Per week later, the Bulldogs would tackle the opposite Energy 5 program he’d go on to steer, Washington, shedding 48–16 on the highway.
As offensive coordinator at Japanese Michigan, DeBoer coached at LSU in ’15 and Missouri in ’16. In 2011, as coordinator at FCS program Southern Illinois, he coached at Ole Miss.
Nevertheless, he’s by no means confronted any of the groups on Alabama’s 2024 schedule as a head coach. Here’s what DeBoer will likely be up in opposition to this fall.
2024 Alabama soccer schedule:
Aug. 31 – vs. Western KentuckySept. 7 – vs. South FloridaSept. 14 – at WisconsinSept. 28 – vs. GeorgiaOct. 5 – at VanderbiltOct. 12 – vs. South Carolinaoct. 19 – at TennesseeOct. 26 – vs. MissouriNov. 9 – at LSUNov. 16 – vs. Mercer Nov. 23 – at OklahomaNov. 30 – vs. Auburn
Current historical past has confirmed {that a} coach doesn’t essentially want Southern roots or SEC expertise to thrive within the league. Saban is, in fact, from West Virginia, and earlier than heading to LSU, he rose via the teaching ranks primarily within the Midwest and Northeast, notably as head coach at Toledo and Michigan State. On the similar time, he was a confirmed commodity within the South by the point Alabama employed him away from the Miami Dolphins, having gained a nationwide title with the Tigers within the 2003 season.
DeBoer may not have expertise in opposition to the SEC as we all know it, however because of convention realignment, there’s one future convention foe he’s fairly conversant in. In 2022, Washington beat Steve Sarkisian and Texas, 27–20, within the Alamo Bowl. This yr, the Huskies gained a rematch within the Faculty Soccer Playoff semifinal on the Sugar Bowl, 37–31.
