Many Alabama Crimson Tide fans can't stand having Kalen DeBoer as their head coach after his team was outclassed by an unranked Florida State Seminoles squad this past Saturday. After 14 games in charge, DeBoer has many clamoring for his firing as soon as possible.
If Alabama were to pull the trigger, who'd be in line to replace him?
SiriusXM College Sports Radio host Dari Nowkhah believes Jimbo Fisher and Jon Gruden are good options, while one caller floated Vanderbilt Commodores head coach Clark Lea, per Bama247's Mike Rodak.
Jimbo Fisher would be disastrous hire for Alabama
Fisher owns the record for the biggest contract buyout in the history of the sport. Even if he were to be signed to a cheap contract, the stigma of replacing a guy with a $70 million buyout with the only guy who's had a higher buyout is a PR nightmare waiting to happen.
If Greg Byrne even gets the chance to make his the next hire, he'd do well to choose almost anyone else for the seat.
Fisher is long past his days of being a national championship coach. Sure, he could get lucky and find the next Jameis Winston, who was a product of nearby Hueytown High School. But Fisher has already proven that he can recruit a historically great class and coach them to mediocrity on the field with his 2022 Texas A&M Aggies recruiting class.
Fisher is better off going the offensive coordinator route before finding his next head coaching job.
Jon Gruden lacks key trait Crimson Tide need at this point
Gruden has a Cult of Personality type following after being fired from the NFL for having private emails leaked. His character is a question mark to some, but that's never stopped the University of Alabama's hiring process.
Gruden is a proven entity in the coaching realm, but the Sandusky, Ohio, native's SEC experience is from the 1980s as a graduate assistant with the Tennessee Volunteers.
DeBoer should be a lesson not to keep hiring guys without SEC experience.
Vanderbilt's Clark Lea is just right for Alabama
Lea has everything Alabama needs in its next head coach.
He has coached up the lowliest school in the SEC to respectability and has familiarized himself with the south.
The problem is that Lea is a Vanderbilt alum and Nashville native. He may be in his dream job already coaching the Commodores.
Why go to a school that couldn't beat the one he's currently at as a four-score favorite?