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By Andrew McCarty
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After Penn State fired longtime head coach James Franklin, a surprise candidate started to emerge: Alabama's Kalen DeBoer. Jon Sauber of The Centre Daily Times reported DeBoer is a leading candidate for the Nittany Lions.
“He’s been one of Penn State’s top targets from the beginning,” Sauber said via Tide 100.9. “I think it was, early on, a little bit pie in the sky, of course, Alabama’s close game with South Carolina, there was a chance it could have picked up there. It didn’t, and then the loss to Oklahoma nudged the door open a little bit."
The caveat, though, was that Alabama needed to lose to Auburn and Miss the College Football Playoff. “I still think Alabama would have to miss the Playoffs to make this a real possibility, which, obviously, would include a loss to Auburn to end the year," he added.
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That didn't exactly happen as Alabama took down its bitter in-state rival in a thrilling 27-20 victory to punch its ticket to the SEC title game and a likely College Football Playoff appearance.
After Alabama's victory, a new SEC head coach has become the favorite to land the Penn State job. Seemingly overnight, Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel surged into the lead over BYU's Kalani Sitake and former New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll – Kalshi gives Heupel a 30% chance to get the job.
Heupel and the Volunteers finished off their 2025 regular season with a 45-24 blowout loss at the hands of Heisman Trophy candidate quarterback Diego Pavia and the Vanderbilt Commodores. In his fourth season as the team's head coach he led the team to a somewhat disappointing 8-4 finish.
Now the odds are suggesting he could leave for the Big Ten.
More College Football: Alabama Could Suffer Double Loss Amid Kalen DeBoer, Penn State Rumor
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