Courtney Morgan had a suspicion that something was going on.

Kalen DeBoer was virtually out of sight. The coach who normally takes the time to respond to almost every text didn’t do so for a day or two in January.

“He smeared everybody,” Morgan told AL.com.

Morgan, then Washington’s general manager, heard the rumors shortly after Nick Saban retired on Jan. 10. Phone conversations with others in the industry confirmed them: Washington was in danger of losing its head football coach. But Morgan had not yet spoken to DeBoer.

The deal was done on Friday, January 12. Then came the phone call from DeBoer.

I’m going to Alabama. I want you to go to the airport and meet me.

DeBoer explained to Morgan that he had scheduled a staff meeting, after which DeBoer would brief the team. Shortly after, they were to board a plane to Tuscaloosa.

“I was like, ‘Okay,'” Morgan said. “So then I went home, put stuff in a little bag and thought I’d be right back.”

Not so much. Not with all the work that awaited.

It started in the air. Sitting on Alabama’s private jet, Alabama’s new coach and general manager texted recruits including five-star receiver Ryan Williams, Morgan said. DeBoer and Morgan had to fend off circling sharks bearing the logos of the sport’s most established powerhouses.

The transfer portal had just reopened to Alabama players after Saban’s retirement. Saban has since noted that people were camping out in Tuscaloosa at the time trying to lure Alabama players into the portal.

DeBoer and Morgan landed in Tuscaloosa around 8:30 p.m. Hundreds of fans and a cold, windy night greeted them at the airport. Then chaos befell them at the Mal M. Moore Athletic Facility.

“We walked into the team meeting and it was one of the weirdest vibes ever,” Morgan said. “They had just lost their legendary coach, so it was like everybody’s dog had died. From the players to the coaching staff. And then the new coach comes in. You come in after Nick Saban.”

DeBoer had to start his sales pitch right away. This is why players who signed up to play for arguably the greatest college football coach of all time should stay. This is why they should trust DeBoer with their future. He had meetings with players who were lining up to find out who the new man would be to lead the program.

“We got there,” Morgan said, “and we walked into the fire.”

DeBoer wouldn’t have it any other way.

What may scare many doesn’t deter DeBoer. He sees challenges as opportunities and approaches them with a quiet confidence. He’s aggressive, but not reckless. Nor does he let failure stop him from trying again in the future. He’s calculating, but he takes risks, like going for it on fourth-and-2 on his own turf or deciding to be the man who the boy.

DeBoer doesn’t avoid the heat. He runs to the fire.

Broken and burned

Kurtiss Riggs still remembers the diving catch. The one where DeBoer broke his collarbone.

Riggs, a former Sioux Falls quarterback, saw his good friend injured in his freshman year.

“You saw him fight, no matter what, to get the ball,” Riggs said.

Naturally, many thought DeBoer would be tentative upon his return. But that wasn’t the case. The following season, the Sioux Falls receiver was still throwing his body around to make plays.

“He couldn’t get enough of competing,” Riggs said.

The same goes for DeBoer’s coaching career. He’s not afraid to be aggressive, even if he’s been burned before.

As Sioux Falls’ offensive coordinator in his mid-20s, DeBoer once called a halfback pass in the NAIA national semifinals. But Carroll College intercepted it. The next play, the Fighting Saints scored a touchdown to beat Sioux Falls 20-17.

Fast forward to 2023. In the College Football Playoff against Texas, running back Dillon Johnson was called on fourth-and-1 from Washington’s 33-yard line. Johnson gained five yards. Shortly thereafter, Washington scored to make it 21-14 late in the second quarter.

DeBoer approved that decision after Johnson failed to cash in on fourth-and-1 from the Texas 14-yard line a few minutes earlier.

“I don’t think we’re being reckless,” DeBoer said. “But we’re taking those moments and trying to take advantage of them and going for it.”

Another example: Fourth-and-1 from his own 29-yard line against Washington State in 2023. With 1:07 left, the game was tied at 21-21. DeBoer could easily have called a punt and forced overtime.

He didn’t. Washington went for it. DeBoer saw an opportunity to succeed, not to fail.

“When it comes down to fourth down, it’s just another play, another down,” DeBoer said. “Yes, it’s an important one, but we can’t just line up everything and think it’s make or break. Just go out there and execute the play.”

The Huskies reversed it with receiver Rome Odunze sprinting 23 yards for a first down. Washington finished the drive with a field goal to beat Washington State 24-21.

“At that point, (DeBoer’s) confidence gave me an elite feeling about the call,” said JaMarcus Shephard, then-Washington’s receivers coach. “There’s no doubt. I wouldn’t doubt Kalen DeBoer.”

Shephard didn’t do that then, and he didn’t do that a few months later either.

Follow the leader

Are you coming too?

DeBoer called Shephard shortly after he accepted the job at Alabama. DeBoer contacted Shephard to see if he would be interested in following him.

“I knew when I came to Alabama that it was going to be a fight,” Shephard said. “It was going to be a war. And it’s going to be a fight and a war. I wouldn’t want to do it with anybody else.”

Consider Shephard another guy who isn’t afraid to run toward the fire. Especially with DeBoer leading the way. Shephard accepted the job of Alabama’s assistant head coach/co-offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach.

“He had the confidence to leave a situation that was really set up for us next year,” Shephard said, “to come down here and start over in an environment that’s different than what you get in the Pacific Northwest … it was an easy decision to want to go with him.”

Shephard wasn’t the only one following from Seattle. So did Morgan, Nick Sheridan, Chuck Morrell, Ali Smith, Mitch Dahlen, Jerret McElwain and Ron McKeefery, among others.

McKeefery, a special assistant to the head coach, first witnessed DeBoer’s willingness to take on challenges at Eastern Michigan. DeBoer joined the Eagles as offensive coordinator after they won a combined four games from 2012-13. Combined.

“To get there, it took certain people who were willing to run toward the fire instead of running away from it,” McKeefery said.

In 2016, DeBoer’s final season at Eastern Michigan, the Eagles improved their record to 7-6 and reached a bowl game for the first time since 1987.

“Most people run from that,” McKeefery said. “The same thing happens here. Most people run from the opportunity to follow Coach Saban.”

There’s a reason Morgan DeBoer followed from Fresno State to Washington and now Alabama. Morgan has even “had chances to leave since I got to Alabama,” but he stuck with DeBoer.

“It’s not about the logo,” Morgan said. “It’s about the people and the work. I’d rather go with someone that I really trust and enjoy working with.”

Morgan noted how DeBoer stays one step ahead. Morgan knows it’s the ex-play caller in DeBoer. For example, DeBoer hangs a calendar in the staff room that covers the entire year. That way, his staff knows exactly what DeBoer expects and can plan accordingly.

“If you stay ahead of the calendar,” Morgan said, “you’re always prepared.”

Preparation is a key to DeBoer’s success, if you ask Riggs. And Riggs would know. Riggs also coached alongside DeBoer for four years at Sioux Falls. The two remain close to this day.

“He knows what it takes and how he’s going to get there and the success and the confidence of what he’s done,” Riggs said. “He knows he can do it. He doesn’t dwell on the negative. He just knows ‘if we approach it this way, if we do things this way … we’re ready.'”

Where legends must be replaced

DeBoer has done this before. A little.

Bob Young wasn’t nationally known like Saban. He didn’t win seven national championships. But around Sioux Falls, Young was a legend.

He took over a Sioux Falls team with a .276 winning percentage and went 172-69-3 over 22 seasons. Young won 13 conference titles and coached in two NAIA national championships, winning one in 1996. As a result, Young earned induction into the South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame in 2009.

Then he retired and DeBoer agreed to replace him.

DeBoer went from offensive coordinator to head coach beginning with the 2005 season. He coached the Cougars for five years, winning three NAIA national championships. DeBoer finished 67-3.

“He immediately says you walk into a program where a coach has done incredible things, and look what he gives you,” Riggs said. “Instead of saying, ‘What if I can’t live up to the expectations of that coach and the fans?’ Instead he says, ‘Look at the foundation that’s already been built here. Look at what I have to work with.'”

DeBoer took that approach when he replaced Young at Sioux Falls, Jeff Tedford at Fresno State and now Saban at Alabama.

Riggs understands the questions why DeBoer would want to be the man to follow the man. Riggs asked them. Directly to DeBoer.

Hey, you know what you’re going to do here, right? Walk in after Coach Saban?

DeBoer did. In fact, he walks up to the challenge, drinking from the glass half full. DeBoer may not have as many championships to his name, but he has the same resources, facilities and standards as Saban. They haven’t gone anywhere. That’s why DeBoer responded to Riggs’ question this way:

What a great opportunity.

Nick Kelly is an Alabama reporter for AL.com and the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X And Instagram.