The college football coaching carousel is shaping up to be an absolutely wild one, with massive SEC brands like Auburn, Arkansas, Florida, and LSU all searching already for their next head coach after dismissing their previous ones.

It’s not just SEC teams though, and one of the first huge firings of the year was the Penn State Nittany Lions getting rid of James Franklin in shocking fashion after three straight losses earlier this season.

Though it may not be the first brand fans in this part of the country think of, make no mistake, Penn State is an extremely powerful program with the history to match up against just about any other team in the nation, not to mention the finances to back it up as well.

As a result, some up in State College think it’s possible that the Nittany Lions could steal away Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer after just two seasons in Tuscaloosa. During a recent interview on The Game with Ryan Fowler on Tide 100.9 in Tuscaloosa, Jon Sauber, who covers Penn State football on the beat for the Centre Daily Times, called DeBoer the top target for the program and seems to think there is real momentum to the wild rumors.

“He’s been one of Penn State’s top targets from the beginning,” Sauber said. “I think the fit at Alabama with Kalen DeBoer has not always been the best, and I think that could be reason for interest on his side. This is legitimate, from Penn State’s side at least. They have a lot of interest in him and see him as someone who would be an ideal fit at Penn State.”

Penn State having interest is one thing, and Sauber stopped short of reporting that there was interest from DeBoer’s side. However, he did point out that should Alabama lose the Iron Bowl and miss the College Football Playoff again, the situation could get uncomfortable enough for DeBoer that he wants out.

“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,” he said. “It didn’t, and then the loss to Oklahoma nudged the door open a little bit. 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. And I’m sure the reaction down there wouldn’t be great….It would have to be a situation where everything gets uncomfortable enough where everyone is kind of like ‘hey, maybe this isn’t best. Maybe everyone should kind of move forward and go from there. I think that would be the kind of scenario that would have to play out for DeBoer to really be in play at Penn State and to really make this a legitimate threat to happen.”

It needs to be noted that Sauber is not saying DeBoer has a foot out the door or anything close to it, however it is reality that Penn State’s interest in Alabama’s head coach is very real.

If DeBoer is happy in Tuscaloosa, this becomes a very quick conversation. However, if he and his family decide the pressure of expectations to deliver on at least making the CFP on a yearly basis is too much, perhaps it could be possible for him to decide this isn’t the place for him.

Time will tell, and if the Iron Bowl does not go well, this could become the biggest story in the sport.