Courtney Morgan had an inkling that something was happening.

Kalen DeBoer was fairly out of sight. The coach who normally takes time to respond to just about every text didn’t for a day or two in January.

“He went dark on everybody,” Morgan told AL.com.

Morgan, then Washington’s general manager, heard the rumors soon after Nick Saban retired on Jan. 10. Phone calls with others in the business confirmed them: Washington was in jeopardy of losing its head football coach. But Morgan hadn’t yet talked with DeBoer.

By Friday, Jan. 12, the deal was done. Then came the phone call from DeBoer.

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

DeBoer explained to Morgan he had a staff meeting scheduled, then DeBoer would tell the team. Shortly after, they needed to be on a plane to Tuscaloosa.

“I’m like, ‘OK,’” Morgan said. “So then I went home, put stuff in a small bag, thinking I’m going to be right back.”

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

It began in the air. While sitting on Alabama’s private jet, the new Alabama coach and general manager were texting recruits, including five-star receiver Ryan Williams, per Morgan. DeBoer and Morgan had to fend off the circling sharks wearing logos of the most established powers in the sport.

The transfer portal had just re-opened for Alabama players upon Saban’s retirement. Saban has since noted that people camped out in Tuscaloosa during that time, trying to get Alabama players to enter the portal.

DeBoer and Morgan landed in Tuscaloosa at about 8:30 p.m. Hundreds of fans and a chilly, windy night greeted them at the airport. Then, chaos met 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 just lost their legendary coach, so it was like everybody’s dog just died. From the players to the staff. And here comes the new coach walking in. You’re walking in after Nick Saban.”

Right away, DeBoer had to begin his sales pitch. Here’s why players who signed up to play for arguably the greatest college football coach of all time should stay. Here’s why they should trust DeBoer with their future. He had meetings with players lining up to figure out, who’s the new guy leading the program?

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

DeBoer wouldn’t have it any other way.

What might scare away many doesn’t deter DeBoer. He views challenges as opportunities, approaching each with quiet confidence. He’s aggressive but not reckless. He also doesn’t let failure stop him from trying again in the future. He’s calculated, but he takes risks, like going for it on fourth-and-2 in his own territory or deciding to be the guy to replace the guy.

DeBoer doesn’t avoid the heat. He runs toward 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 close friend sustain the injury freshman year.

“You saw him compete no matter what it took to try to get the ball,” Riggs said.

Naturally, many thought DeBoer would play tentatively upon his return. But that wasn’t the case. The next 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 has applied to DeBoer’s coaching career. He’s not afraid to be aggressive, even when 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 picked it off. 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 got the call on fourth-and-1 from Washington’s 33-yard line. Johnson gained five yards. Soon thereafter, Washington scored to go up 21-14 late in the second quarter.

DeBoer signed off on that call after, just a few minutes earlier, Johnson had failed to convert on fourth-and-1 from Texas’ 14-yard line.

“I don’t think we’re reckless,” DeBoer said. “But we take those right times and try to take advantage of them and go 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 21-21. DeBoer could have easily called a punt and tried to force overtime.

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

“When it comes to fourth down, it’s just another play, another down,” DeBoer said. “Yeah, it’s an important one, but we can’t just lock up and feel like it’s do or die. Go out there and just execute the play.”

The Huskies ran a reverse with receiver Rome Odunze, who sprinted 23 yards for the first down. Washington ended the drive with a field goal to beat Washington State 24-21.

“In that moment, the confidence (DeBoer) exuded made me feel elite about the call,” said JaMarcus Shephard, then Washington’s receivers coach. “There’s zero question. I wouldn’t question Kalen DeBoer.”

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

Follow the leader

Are you coming?

DeBoer called Shephard not long after taking the Alabama job; DeBoer reached out to gauge Shephard’s interest in following him.

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

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

“Him having that confidence to leave a situation that was really pretty much ready made for us coming into this next year,” Shephard said, “to come and start it all over again in an environment different than what you get in the Pacific Northwest, coming down here to the South … it was easy to make that decision to want to go with him.”

Shephard wasn’t the only one who followed from Seattle. So, too, 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 face challenges at Eastern Michigan. DeBoer joined the Eagles as offensive coordinator after they had won a combined four games from 2012-13. Combined.

“At that place, to go there, it took certain people that wanted to run toward the fire instead of running away from the fire,” McKeefery said.

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

“Most people are running away from that,” McKeefery said. “The same thing coming here. Most people are running away from the opportunity to follow Coach Saban.”

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

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

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

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

Preparation is one 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 confidence of what he’s done,” Riggs said. “He knows he’s able to do it. He doesn’t dwell in the negative. He just knows ‘if we go about it this way, if we do things this way … we’re ready.’”

Where legends must be replaced

DeBoer has done this before. Sort of.

Bob Young wasn’t known nationally like Saban. He also 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 then went 172-69-3 over 22 seasons. Young won 13 conference titles and coached in two NAIA national championships, winning 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, starting with the 2005 season. He spent five years coaching the Cougars, winning three NAIA national championships. DeBoer finished 67-3.

“He right away says you’re walking into a program where a coach has done unbelievable things, and look what he’s handing off to you,” Riggs said. “Instead of going, ‘what if I can’t meet the expectations of that coach and the fans?’ Instead, he’s like, ‘Look at the foundation that’s already built here. Look what I have to work with.’”

DeBoer took that approach in replacing Young at Sioux Falls, Jeff Tedford at Fresno State and now Saban at Alabama.

Riggs understands the questions as to why DeBoer would want to be the guy who follows the guy. Riggs asked them, too. Directly to DeBoer.

Hey you know what you’re going into here, right? Walking in after Coach Saban?

DeBoer did. In fact, he’s walking toward the challenge, drinking out of the half-full glass. DeBoer might not have as many championships to his name, but he has the same resources, facilities and standard Saban did. Those haven’t gone anywhere. It’s why DeBoer responded to Riggs’ question this way:

What a great opportunity.

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