Johnathan Walker:Who should Alabama hire to replace Nick Saban? Start with Kalen DeBoer of Washington

Would Alabama a wunderkind to replace a legend?Johnathan Walker

If Google Trends data offer any fair indication, Alabama fans are interested in the possibility. Internet searches for Oregon's Dan Lanning soared in Alabama after breaking news Wednesday that Nick Saban is retiring.

I'm more interested in the veteran coach who always beats the wunderkind. That's Washington's Kalen DeBoer.

Lanning, 37, oozes nouveau riche cachet. Lanning’s affinity for analytics – fourth-and-4? Go for it! – captivate our attention. His handsome looks made him a fit for ESPN’s halftime set during Monday’s national championship game.

I’d rather have the guy coaching in the game.

You know, the Huskies coach who is 3-0 against Lanning.

Lanning cut his teeth as a graduate assistant for Saban and later as Kirby Smart’s defensive coordinator. He might crush it at Alabama.

Kalen DeBoer, 49, is a career winner. He’s crushed it everywhere he’s been, from NAIA Sioux Falls to Fresno State to Washington. Coaching hires offer no guarantees, but I’d put faith in DeBoer, who has 12 losses in nine seasons coaching at various levels. He inherited a Washington program that went 4-8 in 2021. The Huskies won 25 games the past two seasons.

Alabama's expectations are especially high, and Saban's heir will face unrelenting pressure. Following Saban would be like a comedian taking the stage after George Carlin warmed up the crowd. Good luck matching the laughs. And good luck replicating Saban’s success – or even coming close – especially as college football shows signs of inching toward more parity, at least within the two super-conferences.

In 2022, I asked Mississippi coach Lane Kiffin about the hypothetical idea of replacing Saban. Here’s how Kiffin described that task:

“Following Saban would be the dumbest follow ever,” Kiffin told me then. “What could you possibly do right if you don’t win the national championship every year? … No, that would not be a good decision for anyone.”

Ironically, I think Kiffin would relish the opportunity, but I’m trying to imagine what Tide fans would do the first time his team failed to convert a fourth down from its 37-yard line. They might beat him silly with all those pompoms. And, how would Kiffin’s loose-cannon social media persona play on the heels of Saban’s buttoned-up approach? Yeah, I don’t see that happening.

Lanning, too, is an analytics aficionado with a tolerance for daring fourth downs. Again, I’m envisioning crimson-faced fans armed with pompoms.

Lanning boasts 22 wins after two seasons at Oregon. Impressive. His best win this season came against Liberty, though.

Less than two weeks ago, DeBoer’s Huskies beat Texas, an opponent Saban’s Tide failed to conquer in September.

In an interview with The Athletic, former coach Chris Petersen described DeBoer as “strong in his convictions,” “calm” and “poised.” Those are qualities Alabama should seek from whoever comes next.

A victim of the moment might say, didn’t Washington just get thumped by Michigan? It’s a testament to DeBoer’s coaching ability that the Huskies were even on that stage.

Before the season, 247Sports’ talent composite analysis ranked Washington at No. 27. That’s one spot behind Missouri. Four spots behind South Carolina. Sixteen spots behind Oregon. Twenty-five spots behind Alabama.

And the Huskies defeated every opponent they faced, other than the undefeated national champions. Safe to say DeBoer would have more talent at Alabama, and his pro-style offense should resonate with Alabama supporters. DeBoer developed Michael Penix Jr., a mediocre quarterback at Indiana, into a Heisman Trophy runner-up at Washington.

If not DeBoer, then Florida State’s Mike Norvell and Texas’ Steve Sarkisian would interest me. Sarkisian has it good at Texas, though, and he didn't have to replace a legend.

Like Kiffin, Sarkisian once was Saban’s offensive coordinator. Like Lanning, Sarkisian is winless against DeBoer. Washington beat Texas in postseason games each of the past two seasons.

Alabama fans wouldn’t be as familiar with DeBoer, a South Dakota native, as they would with those other coaches I mentioned. DeBoer has spent most of his life north of the Mason-Dixon Line. He’s never coached in the SEC. Neither had Saban, before LSU hired him to awaken that program out of its doldrums.

The folks out West respect DeBoer.

The Seattle Times published a frantic column in November pleading for Washington to “pay the man.” DeBoer made $4.2 million this season. Folks in the SEC call that peanuts. Surely, Washington will give him a raise, if he sticks around. The Seattle Times listed DeBoer among its handful of suggested candidates to be the next Seattle Seahawks coach.

A rival coach, Washington State's Jake Dickert, probably would help DeBoer pack his bags for the SEC. Dickert recently told The Athletic that he’s “blown away” by DeBoer’s success record, adding that DeBoer has "the respect of the whole coaching world.”

How much does that respect resonate across the country, with Alabama's decision-makers?

DeBoer's got my respect, anyway.

Alabama will hire a new coach, but it can’t hire another Saban. No one can truly replace the GOAT. The best it can do is hire a confident, level-headed, experienced coach who wins all the time.

DeBoer fits that description.

Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network's SEC Columnist. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer.