Choices were made. It may be the heart of the college football offseason, but that did not stop Andy Staples and Ari Wasserman from stirring up some controversy. The On3 college football analysts decided Monday was a great time to do a draft of head coaches. They each had 10 picks, meaning they got to sort through their 20 best head coaches in college football, including one Kalen DeBoer.
Their top 10 made sense initially, then things started to get weird around picks five, six, and seven...
- Indiana Hoosiers head coach Curt Cignetti (Staples)
- Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart (Wasserman)
- Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day (Staples)
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman (Wasserman)
- Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian (Staples)
- Miami Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal (Wasserman)
- Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning (Staples)
- LSU Tigers head coach Lane Kiffin (Wasserman)
- Michigan Wolverines head coach Kyle Whittingham (Staples)
- Texas A&M Aggies head coach Mike Elko (Wasserman)
One by one, they kept taking head coaches not named DeBoer before Staples picked him at No. 11.
- 11. Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer (Staples)
- 12. BYU Cougars head coach Kalani Sitake (Wasserman)
- 13. Virginia Tech Hokies head coach James Franklin (Staples)
- 14. Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney (Wasserman)
- 15. SMU Mustangs head coach Rhett Lashlee (Staples)
- 16. Penn State Nittany Lions head coach Matt Campbell (Wasserman)
- 17. Arizona State Sun Devils head coach Kenny Dillingham (Staples)
- 18. Tennessee Volunteers head coach Josh Heupel (Wasserman)
- 19. Iowa Hawkeyes head coach Kirk Ferentz (Staples)
- 20. Oklahoma Sooners head coach Brent Venables (Wasserman)
Even though Staples did pick DeBoer, Wasserman's draft runs laps around what his colleague did.
If you want to watch their draft and hear what they had to say, you can check it out over on YouTube.
Alabama fans have every reason to be mad over where DeBoer was taken, especially after these five.
5. Texas A&M Aggies head coach Mike Elko
Mike Elko is an excellent head coach, but he is still so green to this. So far, he has led Duke for two seasons and Texas A&M for a pair. While the Blue Devils and Aggies certainly got better under his watch, he has never won a conference championship, and he has never won a playoff game. DeBoer achieved both in two years at Washington, as well as winning a playoff game on the road last season.
Admittedly, Elko was the hardest one to be critical about because he is doing extraordinary things in College Station. However, if he really wanted to be a top-10 head coach in college football, slotted one spot ahead of DeBoer, he should have scored a touchdown at home vs. Miami in the Aggies' No. 7 vs. No. 10 game. Alabama played a much tougher schedule before avenging its Oklahoma defeat.
Elko may be a solid head coach, but he was buoyed so much by last year's less-than-stellar schedule.
4. Michigan Wolverines head coach Kyle Whittingham
Who does not love themselves some Kyle Whittingham? He is a Hall of Fame head coach already from his two-decade run in Salt Lake leading Utah. While he did inherit a strong program after Urban Meyer left for Florida, he was the one to keep the Utes afloat amid multiple conference changes. Sadly, he never was able to get Utah into the playoffs, only winning the Pac-12 when the league stunk.
He now leads the Michigan Wolverines. It was only a few summers ago that it looked like he was going to hang up the headset and sail off into retirement. Instead, he will be the adult in the room Michigan desperately needs. However, he really needed to be the one to win a Big 12 Championship and get Utah into the playoffs. He was not afforded that opportunity. Whittingham just ran out of time.
DeBoer should have been picked ahead of him because he has done more over a far shorter span.
3. LSU Tigers head coach Lane Kiffin
From a pure coaching standpoint, Lane Kiffin is on the same level as DeBoer. Both are great at designing plays to get the ball into their best playmakers' hands in space. While DeBoer still needs to figure out how to run the ball, he is not burning bridges everywhere he goes. It matters. Frankly, it is why DeBoer was the one to replace Nick Saban at Alabama, and not his former offensive coordinator.
DeBoer has had other jobs. Whether it be at Washington, Fresno State, or even Sioux Falls, he did not make the town and its entire fanbase look stupid upon his departure. Kiffin is the king of never being allowed to take part in any homecoming festivities. Outside of being just the better overall person, DeBoer has coached in the playoffs twice, won multiple games there, and won a Power Five title bout.
Kiffin has won a lot of games, but his lack of maturity is why he has never been able to raise a banner.
2. Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian
Give Steve Sarkisian credit for rebuilding his life after it hit the fan for him at USC over a decade ago. He, too, is a savvy offensive mind, one who has helped propel Texas back into serious national title conversations after a dismal decade of decadence. To be quite frank, he may win his first national title before DeBoer does. This is because he is at the better program right now in the University of Texas.
DeBoer has beaten head-to-head in the Sugar Bowl when he was leading Washington, a program notorious for being a Xavier-esque stepping-stone job in the world of college football. Both coaches are not without flaws. However, Sarkisian has developed a bad reputation for making frustrating play calls in crunch time. Just ask Texas, Atlanta Falcons, and even Alabama fans what that is all about...
DeBoer may face some pressure at Alabama, but the kind Sarkisian is feeling this fall is undeniable.
1. Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning
Dan Lanning is a fantastic head coach, but he has two kinds of problems. Not only does he have a rematch problem, but he also has had his issues with DeBoer. When DeBoer was at Washington, he was a constant thorn in Lanning's side. Even though the Tide and Ducks have never played each other in college football, all it takes is one College Football Playoff bracket to bring this game to life.
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Lanning has done a remarkable job of giving the Ducks some bite since coming over from Georgia. However, ducks do not have teeth. Elephants have majestic ivory tusks. Bad dental analogies be damned, DeBoer has equaled Lanning's playoff success in harder situations. The fact that he has the upper hand in their head-to-head games between Oregon and Washington should matter a bit here.
Instead of going No. 11 to Staples, DeBoer is probably closer to being the seventh-best head coach.
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