Kalen DeBoer could be looking at replacing three highly valued assistant coaches in the same coaching carousel.
Defensive coordinator Kane Wommack is a serious candidate at Arkansas, offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb has been linked to multiple openings on the West Coast, and now WR coach/Co-OC JaMarcus Shephard is reportedly one of two finalists for the head coaching vacancy at Oregon State.
Oregon State beat reporter Ryan Clarke reported on Tuesday night that Shephard and Montana State head coach Brent Vigen were the last candidates standing after North Dakota State's Tim Polasek signed a contract extension.
Clarke threw out a caveat of Oregon State having potential interest in the recently fired Justin Wilcox, whom Cal let go on Sunday, but he believes there will be a resolution on the coaching search sometime this week. Clarke mentioned that multiple sources indicated that Shephard had flown out to Portland this week to interview for the job.
JaMarcus Shephard is reportedly a finalist for the Oregon State job
Shephard is widely known as one of the most impressive up-and-comers in the coaching world. He has done excellent work with the Crimson Tide's receivers, and his eye for talent evaluation has been obvious with the guys he has brought into Alabama's WR room.
He doesn't have the head coaching experience that Vigen has, and working against him is also that he's never called plays, either. Vigen is in his fifth season as the head coach at Montana State and has compiled an impressive 57-12 overall record with three top-five finishes in his five seasons at the helm.
DeBoer obviously hopes to hang on to Shephard through this cycle, but if he is offered the head coaching job in Corvallis, you have to wish him well and let him go. Losing Shephard would certainly be a blow, and it would be compounded if Alabama ultimately loses both Grubb and Wommack during his coaching cycle, too.
That kind of significant roster turnover is not something that DeBoer has had to endure, but it comes with the territory of coaching at Alabama and the spotlight that gets placed on the program.
Shephard is highly thought of in the industry, and it's likely only a matter of time before he gets an opportunity to run his own program. If it's not at Oregon State, there could be others that come calling during his cycle, too. He has also previously been linked to the vacant job at Colorado State.