Top college football quarterback-head coach duos in their first year together

Kalen DeBoer has the tall task of replacing Nick Saban at Alabama in 2024, but it's a job he's confident he'll do well in.

Fortunately for DeBoer, he has the luxury of taking over an Alabama program that returns a standout quarterback in Jalen Milroe, who is a popular preseason Heisman Trophy pick following his breakthrough season in 2023. Milroe threw for 2,834 yards and 23 touchdowns to go with 531 rushing yards and 12 rushing scores, leading the Crimson Tide to the College Football Playoff last season.

DeBoer has been one of the top quarterback developers in college football over the last several seasons. He helped Michael Penix Jr. become one of the top quarterbacks in the Big Ten during his time as an offensive coordinator at Indiana. Jake Haener emerged as one of the best Group of 5 quarterbacks when DeBoer was Fresno State's head coach. Penix took an even bigger leap when he reunited with DeBoer at Washington, becoming a Heisman Trophy contender and a first-round NFL Draft pick by the time he left Seattle. 

Milroe is more of a dual-threat QB than both Penix and Haener, but DeBoer insisted that he can cater his offensive system to get the best out of the quarterback in the most recent episode of "Big Noon Conversations."

"It's Jalen, but it's also the guys around him," DeBoer told Joel Klatt. "When you've done it for 25 years, and you've adjusted to the guys — especially when you're at a smaller college level — … you're adjusting to the guys that you have. Of course, it starts with your quarterback. I remember running G Option back in 2000, 2001 and in 2002. … We were running, and the quarterback had 25 carries a game sometimes. Then, I remember years after that, it was a little bit more, and I don't want to call