The Joel Klatt Show: A College Football Podcast - Kalen DeBoer replaces Saban at Alabama, Michigan’s JJ McCarthy declares for Draft & Ohio St reloads

Episode Date: January 15, 2024

FOX Sports’ lead college football analyst Joel Klatt reacts to the news that Washington Head Coach Kalen DeBoer will be the one tasked with replacing Nick Saban at Alabama. Klatt explains why this was a great hire for the Tide and the keys for success in the post-Saban era. He also details why the hiring of Jedd Fisch makes a lot of sense for Washington as they enter the Big Ten. Klatt then considers Michigan’s future at QB after J.J. McCarthy declared for the NFL Draft and how Ohio State may have taken a page out of the Wolverines’ playbook with several big-time players deciding to spurn the NFL Draft for one more run at a Championship. He concludes the podcast by discussing the ramifications of Miami’s massive win in the Transfer Portal with the addition of QB Cameron Ward. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Coming up on the Joel Clad show, Alabama gets their man, Kaelin DeBore, to the tide. College football has never been better. Interest has never been higher. Believe that we are at the dawn of the golden age of college football. It was an epic day of college football. It was just one of those days where you fall in love with the sport all over again. What's going on, everybody? Welcome into the Joel Clatt show.

I am Joel Clatt. Welcome in wherever you're getting your podcast. make sure to follow and subscribe. You know the drill. And then also if you're on YouTube, go ahead and give us a subscribe there. And leave a comment below. I'll be in the chats here in the offseason every now and again,

commenting and chatting with you guys there on YouTube. So make sure to get into the comment section and subscribe on YouTube. You can follow us wherever you like to social media. That's at Joel Clat Show. And let's get down to it because there's a lot to get into here. Kalin DeBoer now replacing Nick Sate. at Alabama that left an opening at Washington. Jed Fish is going to fill that spot. Huge movement and news now out of really the powers that be in the Big Ten as far as

NFL draft declarations as well as some transfer news. All of that coming up right now. So here we go. Kaelin DeBoer leaves Washington. What a run he had at Washington. And now he's got the, let's just say, enviable position. to be hired by Alabama, the preeminent program in college football. And he's got the unenviable task of trying to follow Nick Sabin. So good luck, Cail and DeBoer, but you know what? This move makes so much sense. And that's exactly why I went through it the way that I did last week right here on the program.

I told you guys, I told Colin on his show exactly how that search was going to go. And this is exactly how it went, which was calls to Sark. calls to Dan Lannning. Maybe they contacted Mike Norvell as well. But if it got to DeBore, it was going to be DeBore's job. And that's exactly what happened. That's exactly what happened. Remember, there was a lot of things pointing to the fact that Kalin DeBore wasn't necessarily looking to get out, but at least was, let's just say, keeping his options open. He had an extension on the table from Washington for quite a while, wasn't signing it. Changed agents to Jimmy Sexton. he's obviously a power broker all over college football, but namely in the SEC, really controlling every

single piece of this search for Alabama. When you really think about it, every piece of this search kind of went through Jimmy Sexton. And he was going to use this opening to get some guys their raises and contract extensions, which he did for Mike Norville and Steve Sarkeesian. And then he was ultimately going to be placing somebody there. I always thought it was going to be Kalin DeBoer. and sure enough, it's Kalyn DeBoer. So now he gets the task of following Nick Sabin.

And as we talked about last week, you know, Sabin's going to go down as the greatest in history. And so that's why, like, this is, this is not going to be easy for Kalin DeBore. I firmly believe that Sabin's intention a couple of years ago was to try to go the Bob Stoops route or Urban Meyer route and build from, hire from within. I think he was trying to do that with Steve Sarke. And I believe that he coached probably a couple years extra because Sark got the job at Texas, which you couldn't turn down. And I think that Nick even realized that. So that kind of blew up that plan. And so now they're going to have to go the route of just hiring somebody from outside, which is wild.

You know, Saban, well chronicled, reached number one in 15 straight seasons, 15 and 15 in the last 16. ever since he got there. I tell you, this guy is, he's the greatest of all time. And so now, DeBoer steps into those shoes, and he's got to stand in front of that team. He's got to stand in front of that fan base.

And his most important task will be to be himself. He's got to be himself because that's enough. and I'll go into the details of that after we hear from Kael and DeBore. This is his introductory press conference at Alabama. Here you go. I met with the team last night and heard from them and heard why they came here. A lot of great reasons all tied to the Alabama brand, the education, playing here, you know, each and every Saturday and the support that they get. But obviously there was a major piece of that where they came here because Coach Saban and Ms. Terry, you know, poured everything into them and they just saw the vision and wanted to be a part of it.

You know, people ask, I've already asked, like, why would you go to Alabama? Why? Well, I think there's a lot of really obvious answers, right? And I've touched on that. When it comes to tradition and the history of the program, it's second to none. When it comes to our goals, I shared with you, it's to win the SEC in a national championship. But how are we going to do that? We're going to do that with class. We're going to do with integrity, with academic excellence. Saying all the right things right there.

And that's not an easy, that is not an easy press conference. Why? Because there's no way to win that press conference. You're following a legend. those players in that locker room didn't go to Alabama to play for Kalin DeBoer. He knows that, which is why that speech, if you want to call it that, or at least statement, did not resemble any other statement that you will hear from any other coach. And granted, the circumstances are a little bit different.

And maybe it'll be something similar to when Jedfish finally comments after this hiring at Washington. We'll see. But think of the words that we didn't hear that we normally always hear. Change, build, our way, you know, what I'm bringing, all of those phrases. Those are mainstays in a new coach introductory press conference. Now, having said that, normally you got a new coach because you need a new coach in terms of like performance. Alabama didn't need a new coach. They had to go get a new coach at a necessity because there's retired.

And so he's put into this position where he's got an incredible resume. Speaking of Kailin DeBore, he's got an incredible history of success as a head football coach. And yet he can't sit there and say, well, this is what we do or I'm looking to build the right culture or I'm here to change the way you can't say. any of that. You just can't. So in a lot of ways, that press conference was a microcosm of how difficult his job is going to be moving forward. You know, I mean, how do you get those kids to buy in to what you're trying to sell them? Because it's going to be compared to Sabin, even from inside, not just fan base, right? The obvious one is that all of us are going to be comparing Kaelin, the board, and Nick Sabin. That's obvious.

The harder part for him doesn't really matter what we do and the way we compare him. The harder part for him is that his players are going to be comparing him to the greatest that ever did it. Every minute, everything that he says, every little thing that he does to the practice schedule, every little tweak that he comes in and brings to this program is going to be scrutinized from within. That's mind-blowing. Honestly, I don't know how he's going to do it. But this guy has a great track record. And Alabama fans, you got a great coach.

A great coach. I understand it. He doesn't fit the, I don't know, the normal narrative of what a powerhouse SEC program would hire. Guess what? A powerhouse SEC program would be always. hiring from the Sabin tree. So I find it somewhat interesting that Alabama and Sabin himself, who has to sign off on this, surely, is hiring from outside the Sabin tree. I just find that odd. I think Dabo probably gets this job last year or the year before, but his inability to evolve

with college football eventually cost him. Now, we'll see if he continues or does evolve at Clemson. this was absolutely Dabo's job to lose over the last five years, and it didn't happen. I find that interesting. I find that interesting because he would have fit. It would have been a narrative. You know, he would have been going back home. You would have had all the things in a press conference

that I think Bama fans always envisioned that they would have. And now here comes this guy from Washington. And he comes down there and it's not fun. fiery. There's no drawl. You know, he's not an SEC guy. And yet, what is he? He's a guy that freaking wins. And that's all that matters. That's all that matters. Okay. So, Tide fans, Alabama players, you got to let this guy be himself. And that would be my advice to Kalin DeBore. Be yourself. You're never going to be Nick Saban. Don't compare yourself to Nick Sabin. Don't try to do the things the way he did them be yourself. The guys that succeed following legends in whatever way that they follow

them, whether they were given the keys to the castle, you know, like a Lincoln Riley or even Ryan Day from Meyer and Stoops, or whether you're just hired, you know, after that legend leaves, you've got to be yourself. And the guys that try to be someone that they're not end up failing. So DeBor's got to be himself and they've got to let him be the guy that he is because it's enough. enough. And you just look at his track record and you look at what he's done in particular as a head coach. And there's no reason why this can't work at Alabama. Now, is it going to look exactly like what it did with Sabin? No, but that's okay because there's a lot of different ways to be successful in particular as college football continues to evolve and move forward. Taylor and DeBore

as a head coach, Sue Falls, 67 and 3, Fresno State, 12 and 6, Washington, 25 and 3. and a birth in the national championship game. He's 104 and 12 as a head football coach. You see, in my estimation, I'd rather have that guy than the hot coordinator name. I get it. Like, everyone wants to fall in love with the guy that's calling plays, and it's the next, it's the next, you know, Sean McVeigh and the floor and all these.

I get it. And that's at the NFL level I understand. But don't you want a guy that knows what he's about to do? understands how to be a head coach, especially in today's landscape and college football as it's ever changing. It's going to continue to change, by the way, at a rapid rate over the next three, four, five, six years. And this guy has been able to change. He's been able to win at different levels, different regions of the country. And here he is now 104 and 12 as a head coach, and now he's the head coach of Alabama.

He's one of the best offensive minds in the sport. I think about those offenses with Kiffin and Sark and what they were at Alabama, when you can recruit the talent that Alabama can at the quarterback position, at the wide receiver position, at the running back position. Those offenses were unbelievable. They really were. In a lot of ways, the 2020 offense in the COVID year under Mack Jones and for Alabama, that was one of if not the best offenses I've ever seen in college football.

Obviously, the year before in 19 L.S. you was one of the best. But man, that Bama team could run it. They could throw it. They had speed everywhere. They had a great offensive line. And now you got a guy that can take you in that direction. Okay. Ryan Grubb is probably going to be the offensive coordinator if it's not already official. I think that's an upgrade. Offensively, I think it's an upgrade. So then you start thinking about fit. You start thinking about personnel. And this is where it gets a little bit problematic because Jalen Milro does not fit what Kalin DeBoer does. We'll see how that irons out. I think Jalen Milro is a heck of a player. I really do. In a lot of ways, he is going to be

next year's Heisman frontrunner coming back into the season. But does he do what Michael Pinnock's does? No. No, he doesn't. Can Calan DeBore adjust and coach a team? I think he probably can't. He's won everywhere. He's won every single season. He's been a head coach. and I don't think that'll be any different now at Alabama. Arguably, this is going to be the most talented roster in the sport, depending on how many guys stay. Isaiah Bond did enter the transfer portal before DeBore was hired. He's going to go to Texas now, so Rich get richer there with Texas.

Now Milro and DeBore, that'll be the relationship. If they get to Springball, everyone will be seeing like, what does it look like now under Kalin DeBore? And again, I just think about like every person, practice, everything that he does, everything that he says, it's all going to be compared to Sabin, and that's why it's really tough. It's very tough. Lannings staying at Oregon, Sarks staying home, Norville's staying home, Lane Kiffin's staying home, all of them staying home, and DeBore is going to go to Alabama. I'll just reiterate, and it's the last point. The team and the fans and the media

need to allow this guy to coach the team the way that he sees fit. Let him be himself. Because he is enough. Plain and simple. And my advice to Kaylon DeBore, be yourself because you are enough. Trust what you bring to the table. It's going to be very difficult on all sides, but the trust has to be there moving forward. Okay, that left a vacancy at Washington.

Jed Fish is going to fill that. He had such a successful run at Arizona. And to be fair, there were questions about Jed Fish. He's coached everywhere. And candidly, you know, he's always been in the mix for jobs actively pursuing just about any job out there, which to each his own and give him a lot of credit because he was able to land at Arizona. In particular, in a, I would say a place in time or history. that was not a good one at Arizona. In the COVID year, they go winless.

Then he gets the job. They win one football game his first year. And now he's leaving a program that just finished 11th in the country and had 10 wins. He did an unbelievable job at Arizona. Nobody really talked about it this year because it was never a team that was threatening for the playoff. But man, this is one of the great stories of college football, in particular, it didn't get covered. He loses his quarterback early and then Noah Fafita comes in, this young kid and starts playing unbelievable. And they win 10 games.

They beat Oklahoma in the bowl game. 11th in the country. And so Jed goes to Washington, and this makes a ton of sense, not only for him, but also for Washington. I think he's in the same vein. He's an offensive-oriented coach that clearly understands the passing. game and with the success that they just had, you know, that, that fits. However, that roster is going to be decimated from what it was a year ago in which they won the PAC 12, beat Oregon twice, and then ultimately lost to Michigan in the national championship game. It's going to be totally

different. But Jed Fish doesn't care because he just took over a one, I'm sorry, a winless program at Arizona and built them into a team that was 11th in the country in 110 games. Guy can coach, I can coach. So he gets into now the big 10. He gets to a spot that I think is probably a little bit more advantageous for him. And he's not worried about what that roster is going to look like. So in a lot of ways, this is a win-win. I know Husky fans are going to be disappointed with what transpired over the last couple of weeks. Ever since, you know, the Sugar Bowl, really, you beat Texas and then you lose to Michigan, you lose your coach. All those guys are going to be walking out the door, that's a tough one. And I understand that, but this guy is a very good coach, and it doesn't matter how many guys walk out the door because he has proven, as he just did at his last location, that he can build a winner from next to nothing. So Jedfish to Washington makes a lot of sense. Really a fan of that higher, and they'll move forward with him. Let's get to some declarations for the NFL draft, both staying and going. Let's start with some guys that are going.

Namely, I think that the biggest one over the last couple of days was J.J. McCarthy. Quarterback at Michigan is declaring and going to the National Football League. This guy didn't have anything left to prove in college. 27 and 1 as the Michigan starter over the last two seasons. And he is highly talented. It was really interesting over the last three years. Just to kind of watch this evolution because he came in as a five-star player and there was a lot of hopes and dreams pinned on him specifically.

He was going to be the savior of Michigan football. And I thought Jim Harbaugh did a great job with him specifically. And then he did an amazing job himself of being unselfish because they never made the program about him. All right. Even as a freshman when he came in and was sharing time with Cade McNamara, that's a season that is a dream season. They beat Ohio State. They win the Big Ten.

and they go and play Georgia. But what happened against Georgia made it very clear and very obvious that they needed an upgrade at the quarterback position. They needed to, yes, get better everywhere. I think that that's clearly an obvious lesson when you play Georgia, in particular that Georgia team. But namely at quarterback, you needed a guy that could take you above the X's and O's for little spurts of time within a game with the system that they wanted to run.

and JJ was going to be that guy. So he becomes the starting quarterback in 2021. They had a fantastic year. And the entire season, they were just so heavy in the run game that myself, among others around the country, always questioned, like, when are they going to let JJ just go, man, throw the ball down the field? When are we going to see it? And to his credit, he never pressed them in that manner.

He was just content being a part of the system and learning and growing. And the quarterback that I saw in his first few starts in 2022 versus the guy that I saw late in the 2023 season was far different. And he had really matured both personally and as a player. Okay. And I think that not only Harbaugh and the program, but he himself deserves a lot of credit for that. It would have been very easy for J.J. McCarthy to transfer and say, I want to throw the football more. it would have been very easy for him to pound the table and say like, hey, I want this team to be about me. And he never did. In a lot of ways, he was the perfect five-star quarterback to make a run with that specific team and that specific culture to win a national championship at Michigan.

So kudos to him. You don't get the 27 and one as a starting quarterback lightly. And he did it in an unselfish way. He was the first to celebrate when they're beating Penn State and they're handing the football off 32 straight times. and yet there were moments not only during the national championship game, but obviously during the Rose Bowl, when he's got to play huge in that final drive to go down and tie the score and regulation, there were times during the regular season that he took them to another level. And so in a lot of ways, he fulfilled what Michigan fans always wanted him to be, which was a bit of a savior for them in those moments.

But he was perfect because he inserted himself into the culture of the team at Michigan and never made it about him. So a lot of credit goes to him, and now Michigan will be searching for a quarterback next year. Is he on the roster? Maybe, maybe even likely. Alex Orgy, we saw at the end of the season, get some carries.

And granted, it was always in a wildcat type of mode, and so he didn't see what he can do as a passer. He only throw through one pass in his career. He's run it 21 times. Now, Michigan's also going to have on their roster an incoming freshman quarterback, Jaden Davis. He's a top 100 player, but he's just going to be a true freshman next year. It'll be interesting to see, like, do they dabble in the portal?

It's even with a lot of guys leaving, you know, Blake Corum declared for the draft, Chris Jenkins declared for the draft, even with a lot of core guys leaving, that's still a culture at Michigan that is going to try to retain itself as a real unselfish group. I don't know if they'll go to the portal. Will Rogers is probably the best current quarterback. in the portal. He's coming from the pass happy system at Mississippi State. He was going to go to Washington,

if you remember, committed there. But as DeBoer left and went to Alabama, now he has entered back into the portal. It'll be interesting. Maybe he likes Washington enough to give Jed Fish a chance. Maybe Fafita at Arizona is going to jump in and follow his coach. It's a mess. The transfer

portal is a mess, but we'll see what happens. But in terms of Michigan, I think that that's a legitimate question. Do they dabble in the portal or do they allow Alex Orgy and Jaden Davis to compete it out for the quarterback spot next year. We also need to figure out what Jim Harbaugh is going to do. He is going to talk with teams. The first team he's going to talk with is the Chargers.

I'm expecting him to go to the National Football League. I don't have sources on that. That's just like, you know, it's a bit of a gut kind of like Kailin DeBoer to Alabama. It just makes sense. I don't understand why Jim Harbaugh, unless he just wants to and loves Michigan and loves where he lives and his family wants to stay there. If that's the case, you know what? Fair enough. And more power to him.

And I hope that's the case because Jim Harbaugh is good for college football. But then there's the other piece of me that's like he accomplished what he went there to do. And why would you want to deal with the NCAA if you're Jim Harbaugh? That remains to be seen. that Michigan team, a lot of questions now, a lot of questions moving forward. JJ's stock in the draft will obviously talk a lot about it during the course of the next few months as we lead into the NFL draft. He's going to be the youngest of this kind of crop of quarterbacks. There's some old dudes.

Who do we got? Jalen Daniels, he's old, 23. Pinnix is going to be 24. Nick's going to be 24. Caleb's already 22. He's not a young guy. Drake May is the next youngest. He's 21. He's going to turn 22 in August. That's before next NFL season.

But McCarthy, he isn't even 21 yet. He turns 21 later this week. So he's going to be a 21-year-old rookie, really talented, a guy that has operated an NFL style of system, understands run game checks, understands protection checks. My only question for him is going to be, how many times can you just drop back and manipulate the game from the pocket, control the game from the pocket?

Because he wasn't asked to do that very often at Michigan. Most of their passing was either run action or play action. Very rarely were they in straight dropback mode. and if they were, it was generally quick game. I mean, I can count on one hand the time in any one game, you know, just the straight dropbacks that you would see from McCarthy. And I'm talking about like, from the gun, a three-step drop, reading things down the field, very different than like Michael Pinnock's did that 20 times a game.

McCarthy didn't. So, like, where does the evaluation settle? I'm not sure. I'm not sure to be quite honest with you. I can't wait to talk with a few scouts and see what they say. Super run heavy in his time at quarterback. He's 106th and pass attempts per game this year at just about 22 per game. So we'll get into draft stock as we continue to go.

But Michigan is left now with questions at quarterback. Blake Corum, he's going to the NFL. Chris Jenkins, he's going to the NFL. They'll obviously be waiting to see about Donovan Edwards. Meanwhile, guess who's all coming back? Every Buckeye, save for my call, the defensive tackle. Ohio State, like, I did not see this coming. When I got done with the Michigan, Ohio State game,

I thought to myself, okay, this Ohio State team is going to have a lot of holes to fill because there's a lot of guys that are going to declare for the draft. And they're basically all coming back. The only declarations, Marvin Harrison, I think that's an obvious one. Michael Hall, the defensive tackle, steel chambers on the defensive side, and right guard Matt Jones. Okay. So there's some questions on the offensive line.

But think about the guys that have said no to the draft. And they're all coming back. This is eerily similar, by the way, to Michigan a year ago at this point, when it's just like all these commitments to stand. started rolling in and you started thinking to yourself like, oh, oh, well, like Michigan's going to be really good. So here it is. On offense, guard, Donovan Jackson, wide receiver, a mecca, Abuka, running back, Travion Henderson, all coming back. Defense, this is what's wild. All draft eligible. You ready for this? Jack Sawyer at defensive end. Ty Leak Williams at

tackle, Ty Hamilton at tackle. JT. Tuimolo, at defensive end. Cody Simon at linebacker, Denzel Burke at Corner, Jordan Hancock at Corner, Lathan Ransom at safety. Like, oh my gosh. They went into the portal and got Woolhoward, so they feel like they've probably got at least a solid competition at quarterback. He was the Kansas State quarterback that won a Big 12 championship over TCU. They get the best running back in the SEC, Quinchan Junkins. He comes in.

Now he's going to split carries with Travion Henderson. that's immediately the best backfield in America. And they get center set Seth McLaughlin. It's so reminiscent of Michigan a year ago. They got these spot transfers at key areas. You know, you think about a guy like Ernest Hausman or some of those linemen that they got to come in. I tell you, man, Ohio State is primed to make a run.

And I'm really glad that I have not given you yet my way too early top 10 for next year because truth be told, I did record an episode that will never see the light a day because some of these things that have happened, namely Sabin, he retires, Kaelin DeBoer leaves, Jed Fish leaves. Now you get all these guys redeclairing for Ohio State. You get Michigan's quarterback leaving and it's like, okay, that's going to totally change the top 10. So the way too early top 10 will now be released this Wednesday. So make sure to mark your calendars, subscribe to the podcast, follow the podcast, subscribe to the YouTube, follow all the social channels because you're going to get my way too early top 10 for next season on Wednesday. And trust me, Ohio State moved up a few spots.

Another team that moved up a few spots, although I'm going to tease one thing about the top 10. not going to include Miami, but Miami did get a huge commitment out of the transfer portal. Cam Ward, and honestly, it is going to change some things in terms of the teams that I considered for the top 10 because now Miami is in that consideration. Cam Ward decided to forego the NFL draft and now commit to Miami. He received kind of that day two, three grade, wants to be a day one guy in the NFL so he needs to come back to school. Where at Miami? At Miami. He spent four years of starting experience to at Incarnate Word, two at Washington State. So he's highly experienced.

I thought he was kind of the prize of the transfer quarterback pool. The last time Miami, by the way, finished in the top 10 in the season, 2003. It's been 20 years without a top 10 finish. Maybe this is the year. Maybe I think that they're talented. Mario Cristobal has always built a program that's filled with talent. Now, some of their game day execution, I think that you can argue with. That was obviously the Achilles heel at Oregon when Mario was there.

Last year, that obviously popped up against, who was it, Georgia Tech, when they could have just taken a knee and didn't and lost the game. They did have that good year with Mark Rick, if you were going to remember, in 2017. They started 10 and 0, got as high as I think second in the country that year, and then lost their last three and finished just out. outside of the top 10. The schedule with what he's building and the schedule that they have, you'd think it's very manageable.

So Miami next year, they're going to open at Florida. They get Florida State at home. So that's good. And then they've got kind of notable ACC games like at Louisville, at Georgia Tech. They're home against Duke and Virginia Tech. They miss Clemson. So again, manageable schedule for Miami.

Could they get into the top 10? well, now it's a lot more likely because they've got Cam Ward. So Cam Ward, that was some big news. He's deciding to go to Miami. And again, man, college football, it used to just kind of slow down totally after the bowl games, after the national championship. But now it just doesn't. There was a lot going on, obviously led by Nick Sabin retiring from Alabama.

Wednesday, my top 10 for next season is going to drop. sure to be there. And just remember, always comment in particular on YouTube. I'm going to dive in there and chat with you guys during the course of the offseason, during the course of the weeks, and we will go from there. So make sure to come back on Wednesday. Have a great week until then. And before we get out of here, one last thing for me is happy birthday to my now 12-year-old, Henry Clatt. My man, gosh, I love my boys so much. as you know. And so as you're listening to this, we will be taking Henry to Universal Studios. He's been wanting to go there for a long time. So we had a little birthday dinner on Sunday night,

and we're going to Universal Studios. My oldest son is already 12. Happy birthday, Henry. I love you so much, buddy. And we will talk to you on Wednesday. Thanks for listening.