Sources: Washington's DeBoer agrees to become Alabama's next coach

Washington's Kalen DeBoer, who guided the Huskies to a Pac-12 championship and a berth in the College Football Playoff National Championship game last season, has agreed to a deal to become Alabama's next head coach, sources told ESPN on Friday.

DeBoer informed his Washington players and staff on Friday that he is leaving for Alabama, sources told ESPN, and the deal is expected to become official later that day.

DeBoer, 49, would inherit one of the most coveted jobs in college football (and one of the toughest) by replacing Saban, whose teams won nine SEC titles and six national championships in his 17 seasons at the school. Saban, who had a 206-29 record at Alabama, retired Wednesday.

Washington athletic director Troy Dannen made an aggressive pitch to keep DeBoer, sources told Thamel, with a new contract that would make him one of the FBS's 10 highest-paid coaches and more than double his annual salary. current $4.2 million.

DeBoer will owe Washington a $12 million buyout when he leaves. He signed a two-year contract extension through the 2028 season in November.

DeBoer had emerged as the Crimson Tide's top target even before three other potential candidates (Oregon's Dan Lanning, Florida State's Mike Norvell and Texas' Steve Sarkisian) withdrew from the search and affirmed their commitments to their current schools during the last two days.

Washington hired DeBoer to resurrect its program after the Huskies went 4-8 in Jimmy Lake's second season as coach in 2021. With Indiana transfer Michael Penix Jr. orchestrating Washington's high-flying offense , the Huskies more than doubled their win total during an 11-2 campaign in 2022.

Last season, Washington went 12-0 during the regular season and defeated rival Oregon for the second time, 34-31 in the Pac-12 championship game, to reach the CFP for the second time in school history . The Huskies beat Texas 37-31 in a CFP semifinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl on New Year's Day.

Washington lost to No. 1 Michigan 34-13 in the CFP National Championship presented by AT&T.

DeBoer's hiring at Alabama would be the pinnacle of a meteoric coaching rise in recent seasons for him. DeBoer, a record-setting receiver at the University of Sioux Falls, an NAIA program in his home state of South Dakota, became head coach at his alma mater in 2005. Over the next five seasons, his teams went 67 -3 and won three NAIA awards. national championships (in 2006, 2008 and 2009). The Cougars went 17-2 in the NAIA playoffs during DeBoer's tenure.

After stints as offensive coordinator at Southern Illinois, Eastern Michigan, Fresno State and Indiana, DeBoer replaced Jeff Tedford as Fresno State coach in 2020. The Bulldogs finished 3-3 in the COVID-19-delayed season in 2020, then improved to 9-3 in their sophomore season, which included upset wins over nationally ranked UCLA and San Diego State.

ESPN's Pete Thamel and Adam Rittenberg contributed to this report.