It was 21 years ago. In late 2002, right after a team from the state of Washington won the Pac-10 championship (shared with USC), Alabama had a head coaching vacancy it needed to fill. It chose Washington State Cougar head coach Mike Price to be its latest head football coach.
Here we are, all these years later. After a 2023 college football season in which a coach from the state of Washington won the Pac-12 championship, Alabama — its head coaching position open — has once again gone to the Pacific Northwest with its hire of Washington Husky head coach Kalen DeBoer.
When Price was hired in late 2002, he went to a strip club in Pensacola, Florida. His infamous lap dance created an uproar which prevented him from coaching a single game for the Crimson Tide. Kalen DeBoer will almost certainly avoid that kind of scandal, but the larger point people will keep mentioning is that DeBoer is a stranger to the South and its culture. It will be interesting to see how an outsider handles the Bama job.
Let’s see how people reacted to this hire, specifically through the lens of Mike Price in late 2002 and early 2003 at Alabama:
ALABAMA LEGEND
UW FANS ANGRY
Good 2yrs with Deboer. But I am bitter and hope he has the same fate as Mike Price did at Alabama! Scree you coach Deboer!
— robert banfield (@robertbanfield) January 13, 2024
MICHIGAN LINK
For the second time in a row, the coach that Michigan beats to win the national championship from a Washington school is hired by Alabama.
Mike Price, and now Kalen DeBoer. #GoBlue
— Don Thomas (@REALDonThomas) January 12, 2024
APPLE CUP TENSIONS
I’ll say this: I don’t think DeBoer will be the worst coach to go from the state of Washington to Alabama.
That’ll still be Mike Price. A Coug.
— Ian Aguirre (@SkillCheck) January 12, 2024
UNBEATEN!
Alabama has now hired two Coaches from a school in…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/alabama-hire-kalen-deboer-recalls-135709420.html
Author : Trojans Wire
Publish date : 2024-01-16 13:57:09
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
