It’s nice to dream.
The Powerball jackpot has soared to $1.8 BILLION for tonight’s drawing, the second largest in the lottery’s history. And as people rush to get their tickets in hopes of becoming an overnight billionaire, I think pretty much everybody has a plan for what they would do if they somehow won the big jackpot.
And one Alabama woman would no doubt make a TON of Crimson Tide fans very happy if she won the $1.8 billion.
WHNT was out interviewing Powerball players ahead of the drawing, and asking them what they would spend the money on. Well Susie Conerly from Guntersville, Alabama knows exactly what she would do with the money:
“I tell you exactly what I’d do with the first $70 million. I’d pay off Kalen DeBoer and get him the heck out of the University of Alabama. And then I’d take whatever else it took to get rid of the AD.”
Of course there’s no doubt that Susie isn’t the only one who would be cutting a check for the Alabama coach’s buyout. The Tide went 9-4 last year, including losses to Vanderbilt, Oklahoma and Tennessee, as well as a loss to Michigan in the Reliaquest Bowl, in DeBoer’s first season in Tuscaloosa since replacing the legendary Nick Saban.
And the Tide opened up the 2025 season with a shocking 31-17 loss to Florida State, a team that went 2-10 in 2024.
It’s an unfamiliar position for most Alabama fans, who are understandably frustrated with DeBoer and already calling for AD Greg Byrne to make a change at head coach.
Of course it’s unlikely that Alabama moves on from DeBoer any time soon. The former Washington coach has a $70 million buyout in his contract, and even for a school like Alabama, that’s a tough pill to swallow when you would have to turn around and pay another coach, especially at a time when athletic departments are trying to come up with as much NIL money as possible.
But it sounds like Susie is ready to cut the check if she wins the lottery tonight.
Now, I wouldn’t be getting my hopes up if I were an Alabama fan. The chances of winning the top prize is 1 in 292 million, which means it’s way less than your odds of getting attacked by a shark, being struck by lightning, or hearing an actual country song on country radio.
Sounds like DeBoer’s job is probably safe – although after his press conference earlier this week, Bama fans seemed to be willing to cut the check without hitting the lottery.
DeBoer addressed the loss to FSU, and was asked what happened after he had previously claimed the team had a great week of practice leading up to the game. And his answer didn’t really give Tide fans any confidence:
Yikes…
Well as you can imagine, Bama fans aren’t exactly optimistic that DeBoer is going to be the one to turn things around:
Yeah, going to be a long season for the Tide.
Now, like I said, I don’t think Kalen DeBoer is going anywhere right now. Even though Alabama is 0-1 for the first time since 2001, they’re stuck with their coach for the time being. But if things really go south this season in Tuscaloosa, it wouldn’t be a stretch to see athletic director Greg Byrne make a change after 2025.
And many Alabama fans already have a coach in mind to replace DeBoer: A former NFL coach who happens to be available and wants to get back into coaching, Jon Gruden.
Gruden was, of course, fired by the Las Vegas Raiders back in 2021 amid a controversy over some resurfaced emails the coach had sent referring to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. He’s since gone to work for Barstool Sports, and has said he’s having more fun than he’s ever had in his career, but Gruden has made clear that he’s open to get back into coaching if the right opportunity comes along.
But Gruden doesn’t have any experience as a head coach at the college level, and if history shows us anything it’s that being a good NFL coach doesn’t necessarily translate to success in the college ranks. (I mean, look at what happened to Bill Belichick during his college debut at UNC).
Many Bama fans believe the school needs to look for a coach with experience in the SEC, maybe even someone who has previously coached at Alabama like Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin.
But regardless, it seems that after the embarrassing loss on Saturday, the Tide is turning on Kalen DeBoer. Luckily, he has a chance to turn things around
