3 names emerge for Alabama football head coach opening as search continues

Alabama football got closer to finding its next head coach on Thursday, according to multiple reports.

Washington’s Kalen DeBoer, Florida State’s Mike Norvell and Crimson Tide offensive coordinator Tommy Rees are the three candidates to monitor as athletic director Greg Byrne works closer to the biggest hire of his career.

“It could be considered a winnowing day,” ESPN analyst Pete Thamel said on SportsCenter. “Alabama had some aspirational candidates and they were going to make their calls to the Kirby Smarts of the world, essentially make people, force them to say no.”

DeBoer, who was a national runner-up to Michigan in the College Football Playoff, and Norvell, whose Seminoles were jumped by Alabama to reach the CFP, were among the first batch of candidates to emerge when Saban finally revealed his retirement to players in a team meeting yesterday after a back-and-forth decision.

Oregon’s Dan Lanning, a supposed front-runner, announced he was staying with the Ducks via social media. Rees’ inclusion is new, but it could likely be because the first-year offensive coordinator is one of the few holdovers from the 2023 staff in a prominent role.

Both Thamel and Adam Rittenberg of ESPN identified DeBoer and Norvell as the more “prominent possibilities.” Both coaches are represented by superagent Jimmy Sexton, who also represents Saban. Sexton was spotted in Tuscaloosa entering UA’s football complex as Saban spent a final day clearing out his office.

“There will be plenty of rumors out there during this process. Next time I talk publicly will be to announce our new coach. If you don’t hear it from me, don’t believe it,” Byrne said in a statement released on Wednesday.

UA players were reportedly told that the administration wanted its new coach in place within “72 hours.” That was roughly 28 hours ago and the speculation is unlikely to stop until a successor is named.

Byrne, whose most prominent hire at UA has been Nate Oats and men’s basketball and Brad Bohannon with baseball, has been known to operate behind the scenes, trying to keep negotiations under wraps until they’re finalized. The University has yet to schedule a press conference for Saban, the head coach instead had a sit-down interview with Rece Davis of ESPN, the SEC’s broadcast partner starting next fall.

Norvell was part of a breaking news story on Thursday night as the NCAA hit Florida State with two Level II NCAA Violations, the first-ever related to name, image and likeness. Among the punishments, which include a show-cause penalty for FSU offensive coordinator Alex Atkins, Norvell was notably omitted.

Nick Alvarez is a reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @nick_a_alvarez or email him at NAlvarez@al.com.