After Saturday’s scrimmage, Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer was asked about the penalties levied against the Michigan Wolverines for cheating.
The NCAA put Michigan on four years probation, gave head coach Sherrone Moore a two-year show-cause order, and suspended him for the first game of the 2026 season, along with a two-game self-imposed suspension in 2025. The NCAA also handed multi-year showcase orders to both former Michigan and current Los Angeles Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh, and former Michigan staffer Connor Stalions, who was at the center of the in-person scouting operation.
DeBoer was the head coach of the Washington Huskies when they faced the Michigan Wolverines for the national championship a few years ago.
Michigan knocked off Alabama to reach the game, and Washington had knocked off the Texas Longhorns.
When the penalties came down Friday, some wondered if the NCAA would take away Michigan’s national championship, which they won against the Huskies, 34-13, but they didn’t.
And when asked about how he felt about the verdict the NCAA handed down to Michigan, DeBoer didn’t have much to say.
In fact, he said, "hasn't even read"or heard anything about it.
"I don't have a comparison to other issues that we've had over the years, how it relates," DeBoer said via the Tuscaloosa News. "It is what it is. I don't have too much of a response, I guess."
You do wonder if DeBoer may feel a little bitter considering that the Wolverines basically got off light for cheating. The NCAA admitted they thought about stripping them of their championships and a bowl, but didn’t want to punish the student-athletes over something their coaches did, which makes sense because it still wouldn’t have changed the outcome.
Washington still lost, and Kalen DeBoer still ended up in Tuscaloosa.