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- Did Kalen DeBoer ever play football?
- Kalen DeBoer Sioux Falls
- What position did Kalen DeBoer play?
- Kalen DeBoer college stats
- Kalen DeBoer career timeline
Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer was hired in 2024 to replace the legendary Nick Saban. Prior to arriving in Tuscaloosa, DeBoer was a head coach at Fresno State and Washington after spending several years as an assistant.
DeBoer also was the head coach at his alma mater, Sioux Falls. He played both baseball and football in college, in addition to having a brief professional football career.
Let's take a look at the Alabama head coach's playing days prior to his coaching career.
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Did Kalen DeBoer ever play football?
Yes, Kalen DeBoer did indeed play football. He played wide receiver in high school at Milbank in South Dakota.
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Kalen DeBoer Sioux Falls
Kalen DeBoer played football for Sioux Falls from 1993-96. He was a member of the Sioux Falls 1996 NAIA DII national championship team. He also played baseball for Sioux Falls, while still earning a degree in secondary education. According to Alabama, DeBoer batted .520 for the Cougars in baseball during the 1998 season, which still stands as a school record. He also holds the school record for his 37 home runs and .944 slugging percentage.
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What position did Kalen DeBoer play?
Kalen DeBoer was a wide receiver for the Cougars. But as one story via the Tuscaloosa News chronicles, he once moonlighted as a punter during a snow game at Sioux Falls:
The storm was horizontal. When the offense drove into the blizzard, the players couldn't really see. DeBoer, then a wide receiver, was part of that group. There were no face shields to help either. Punting became darn near impossible when going against the wind. It was so bad that Sioux Falls didn't punt in some fourth-down situations. That included going for it on a fourth down from its own 10.
Electricity in the stadium went out before halftime. So the scoreboard wasn't working. Without power, the door had to be left open to the locker room at halftime so that there was some light.
[...]
In the second half, DeBoer punted a ball that landed near the goal line. But there was no bounce. No roll. It halted immediately on snow. Soon thereafter, a Sioux Falls defender tackled a South Dakota Tech player for a safety.
Sioux Falls won 8-6.
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Kalen DeBoer college stats
Per the Crimson Tide, DeBoer accounted for 234 receptions for 3,400 yards and 33 touchdowns, all of which were school records for Sioux Falls.
Did Kalen DeBoer play in the NFL?
Deboer did not play in the NFL, but he did spend a few seasons playing semi-professionally. He spent one season playing for the Sioux Falls Falcons before playing for the Indoor Football League's Sioux Falls Cobras in 2000 and 2001.
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Kalen DeBoer career timeline
Sioux Falls, Washington High School: 1997-2009
DeBoer began his coaching career at his alma mater, Sioux Falls, as a receivers coach in 1997. He spent two seasons as an assistant at Washington High School in South Dakota from 1998 to 1999. He returned to Sioux Falls as offensive coordinator from 2000 to 2004.
He was named head coach at Sioux Falls in 2005 and served through 2009, leading the program to three NAIA national titles in 2006, 2008, and 2009.
Southern Illinois, Eastern Michigan: 2010-16
From 2010-13, he was Southern Illinois' offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. He held the same roles at Eastern Michigan from 2014-16.
Fresno State 2017-18, 2020-2021
DeBoer was previously Fresno State's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach from 2018-18, then spent one season at Indiana as the Hoosiers OC in 2019.
He got his first FBS coaching gig at Fresno State from 2020-21, where he finished 12-6, including a 3-3 mark during a shortened COVID season in 2020, and finishing 9-3 with the Bulldogs in 2021.
Washington: 2022-23
He then was hired at Washington, where he finished with back-to-back double-digit win seasons. The Huskies went 11-2 in 2022, capped off with an Alamo Bowl victory over Texas. He led Washington to a 14-1 season in 2023, as the Huskies lone loss was to Michigan in the CFP National Championship.
Alabama: 2024-Present
During DeBoer's first season with the Tide, Alabama finished 9-4, just missing out on the CFP. Alabama finished the season with a loss to Michigan in the ReliaQuest Bowl.