Kalen DeBoer
Kalen DeBoer went 129–22 as a head coach, 2005–2026, at Sioux Falls, Fresno State, Washington and Alabama. Wikipedia’s season articles record one season differently (2026, 5–1); by them his record is 129–21. Share
Five seasons our game records don’t credit to him come from the coach’s Wikipedia article: 2005–09 at Sioux Falls. They’re marked in the table.
- Record
- 129–22 career
- Seasons
- 12
- Schools
- 4
- Final AP top 10
- 3 seasons
- Born
- Oct 24, 1974
- Alma mater
- Sioux Falls 1998
- Best season
- 2023 14–1, No. 2
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Sioux Falls * | 11–2 | 2nd | NAIA Semifinal L | 4 | |
| 2006 | Sioux Falls * | 14–0 | 1st | NAIA Championship W | 1 | |
| 2007 | Sioux Falls * | 13–1 | 1st | NAIA Championship L | 2 | |
| 2008 | Sioux Falls * | 14–0 | 1st | NAIA Championship W | 1 | |
| 2009 | Sioux Falls * | 15–0 | 1st | NAIA Championship W | 1 | |
| 2010–19: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 2020 | Fresno State | 3–3 | T–5th | |||
| 2021 | Fresno State | 9–3 | 2nd | New Mexico (not coached) | ||
| 2022 | Washington | 11–2 | T–2nd | Alamo Bowl W | 8 | |
| 2023 | Washington | 14–1 | 1st | Sugar Bowl, CFP Semifinal W; CFP National Championship L | 2 | |
| 2024 | Alabama | 9–4 | T–4th | ReliaQuest Bowl L | 17 | |
| 2025 | Alabama | 11–4 | T–1st | CFP First Round W; Rose Bowl, CFP Quarterfinal L | 9 | |
| 2026 | Alabama | 5–2 (Wikipedia: 5–1) | ||||
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table. * A season our game records don’t credit to him; its record is the article’s.
Players he coached
Ty SimpsonNo. 13 pick, 2026- Jalen Milroe2024 William V. Campbell Trophy
Every player from his seasons with a Heisman top-five finish, a national award, consensus All-America honors or a first-round pick. Photos: Wikimedia Commons, free licenses; credits on each player’s page.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 29 | 21–8 | 72% |
| Against top-10 teams | 12 | 8–4 | 67% |
| Against rivals | 25 | 17–8 | 68% |
| Conference games | 53 | 40–13 | 75% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 6 | 3–3 | 50% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 30 | 21–9 | 70% |
| At home | 40 | 36–4 | 90% |
| On the road | 34 | 23–11 | 68% |
| At neutral sites | 7 | 3–4 | 43% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 62 | 50–12 | 81% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 19 | 12–7 | 63% |
His own 81 games on file, 2020–2026, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Against other head coaches
| Coach | Record | Their schools | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kirby Smart 2024–2026 | 2–2 | Georgia | 4 | |
| Dan Lanning 2022–2023 | 3–0 | Oregon | 3 | |
| Shane Beamer 2024–2026 | 3–0 | South Carolina | 3 | |
| Brent Venables 2024–2025 | 1–2 | Oklahoma | 3 | |
| Josh Heupel 2024–2026 | 1–2 | Tennessee | 3 |
Kalen DeBoer’s record against the head coaches he met three or more times, from the games on file, as played.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Oregonseries | 4 | 3–1 |
| Georgiaseries | 4 | 2–2 |
| South Carolinaseries | 3 | 3–0 |
| Oklahomaseries | 3 | 1–2 |
| Tennesseeseries | 3 | 1–2 |
| Auburnseries | 2 | 2–0 |
| Arizonaseries | 2 | 2–0 |
| Stanfordseries | 2 | 2–0 |
National coaching awards
The awards- 2023 Washington: Eddie Robinson and Walter Camp Coach
How he was hired
- Hired by Washington for the 2022 season from Fresno State, where he was head coach.
- Hired by Alabama for the 2024 season from Washington, where he was head coach.
Power-conference head-coaching hires since 2010, with each coach’s previous job and ties to the school as collected by hand from Wikipedia: Hiring facts: M. Schuckers, cfb_coach_analytics.
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Sioux Falls | Wide receivers coach | |
| 1998–99 | Washington HS (SD) high school | Assistant coach | |
| 2000–04 | Sioux Falls | Offensive coordinator | |
| 2005–09 | Sioux Falls | Head coach | |
| 2010–13 | Southern Illinois | Offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach | |
| 2014–16 | Eastern Michigan | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| 2017–18 | Fresno State | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| 2019 | Indiana | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| 2020–21 | Fresno State | Head coach | |
| 2022–23 | Washington | Head coach | |
| 2024–present | Alabama | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Chris CreightonEastern Michigan
- Jeff TedfordFresno State
- Tom AllenIndiana
Assistants who became head coaches
- Chuck MorrellMontana Tech
- Eric SchmidtNorth Dakota
- Kirby MooreWashington State
- Lee MarksFresno State
- JaMarcus ShephardOregon State
- Chris KapilovicAuburn
- Kane WommackSouth Alabama
- Maurice LinguistBuffalo
Worked under (3)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Creighton | Eastern Michigan | 2014–16 | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Jeff Tedford | Fresno State | 2017–18 | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Tom Allen | Indiana | 2019 | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach |
Coached under him, later head coaches (8)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chuck Morrell | Sioux Falls, 2005–09: defensive coordinator; Fresno State, 2020–21: safeties coach; Washington, 2022–23: co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach; Alabama, 2024: analyst; 2025–26: inside linebackers coach | Montana Tech | |
| Eric Schmidt | Fresno State, 2020–21: special teams coordinator and defensive line coach; Washington, 2022–23: special teams coordinator and defensive ends coach | North Dakota | |
| Kirby Moore | Fresno State, 2020–21: passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach | Washington State | |
| Lee Marks | Fresno State, 2020–21: assistant head coach, running backs coach and running game coordinator; Washington, 2022–23: assistant head coach and running backs coach | Fresno State | |
| JaMarcus Shephard | Washington, 2022–23: assistant head coach, passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach; Alabama, 2024–25: assistant head coach, co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach | Oregon State | |
| Chris Kapilovic | Alabama, 2024–25: offensive line coach | Auburn | |
| Kane Wommack | Alabama, 2024–26: defensive coordinator | South Alabama | |
| Maurice Linguist | Alabama, 2024–26: co-defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach | Buffalo |
Other assistants under him (7)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Ryan Grubb | Sioux Falls, 2007–09: offensive line coach and running game coordinator; Fresno State, 2020–21: assistant head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach; Washington, 2022–23: assistant head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach; Alabama, 2025–26: offensive coordinator | |
| William Inge | Fresno State, 2020–21: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach; Washington, 2022–23: assistant head coach, co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| Nick Sheridan | Washington, 2022–23: tight ends coach; Alabama, 2024: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach; 2025: co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Bryan Ellis | Alabama, 2024–25: tight ends coach; 2026: quarterbacks coach | |
| Colin Hitschler | Alabama, 2024: co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach | |
| John McNulty | Alabama, 2024: analyst | |
| Derrick Nix | Alabama, 2026: wide receivers coach |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.
Pay
| Year | School | Job | Contract pay | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Fresno State | offensive coordinatorbonuses up to $49,600 | $310,000 USA Today | |
| 2016 | Eastern Michigan | offensive coordinator | $147,087 USA Today | |
| 2015 | Eastern Michigan | offensive coordinator | $137,700 USA Today | |
| 2014 | Eastern Michigan | offensive coordinator | $135,000 USA Today |
USA Today’s coaches salary database (2014–17, from public-records requests to the schools; Rachel Ehlers’ copy): the season’s contract pay, school pay plus outside money, before bonuses.
Pay of public employees in their public job only: head coaches, and assistants in the seasons our records name them a coordinator, at public universities.
How he coached
DeBoer’s teams went for it on 26% of fourth downs and on 49% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 56% of plays and took 26.3 seconds a play, 2020–2026.
| Season | School | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 6 g | Fresno State | 13 of 45 29% | 69% | 59% | 24.0 | +0.11 | |
| 2021 13 g | Fresno State | 15 of 95 16% | 30% | 57% | 25.0 | +0.08 | |
| 2022 13 g | Washington | 28 of 74 38% | 57% | 60% | 24.4 | +0.29 | |
| 2023 15 g | Washington | 22 of 89 25% | 54% | 61% | 27.0 | +0.20 | |
| 2024 13 g | Alabama | 15 of 77 19% | 41% | 45% | 26.7 | +0.07 | |
| 2025 15 g | Alabama | 36 of 111 32% | 60% | 57% | 28.0 | +0.09 | |
| 2026 7 g | Alabama | 8 of 39 21% | 32% | 50% | 28.9 | +0.16 | |
| All 82 g | 137 of 530 26% | 49% | 56% | 26.3 | +0.14 |
His seasons as a head coach from 2004 on, from ESPN’s play by play: fourth downs where he went for it out of every fourth-down decision; how often he went when SportsDataverse’s fourth-down model said going for it was the better call; the share of his offense’s plays that were passes; seconds of game clock per offensive play (lower is faster); and expected points added per offensive play (EPA, a measure of how much each play moved the offense toward points). The season in progress counts its games so far. SportsDataverse’s coach tendencies, from ESPN’s play by play; the EPA and the fourth-down model are SportsDataverse’s.