Saturday afternoon saw one of the biggest slates of the 2025 college football season. Multiple top-25 matchups carrying serious playoff implications would change the trajectory of multiple programs campaigns. With the expanded 12-team playoff, teams further embedded themselves into the postseason conversation wins, or moved themselves to the outside looking in with losses. From the first 11 AM kickoff between 10th ranked LSU on the road at 17th ranked Vanderbilt, into the 2:30 PM kickoff between 9th ranked Georgia hosting 5th ranked Ole Miss, to the 6:30 PM rivalry game between 13th ranked Notre Dame and 20th ranked USC, it was a thrilling list of CFB’s powerhouses facing off across the country. Especially in the SEC. Normally, when you think of the Southeastern Conference, South Dakota doesn’t enter the conversation. However, in one of the SEC’s most storied rivalries between #6 Alabama and #11 Tennessee, it was two South Dakotans leading the charge.
Always hosted on the “Third Saturday in October”, the rivalry between Alabama and Tennessee dates all the way back to 1901 when the two schools first played. It has been a yearly installment every single season, except for 1943 when both teams canceled the season to help fight the World War. The rivalry is as deep-seeded as any other in the world of college football. As a University of Alabama alumnus, I can personally tell you there is no bigger week (or Saturday) on the calendar than the third in October… There are always big games on the schedule, but the weight of Alabama vs. Tennessee carries supersedes all. To the victor goes the traditional cigars, and to the losers comes 364 days of misery until you get another crack at them. The game is a subset of the rivalry, the hatred between the two schools is what carries the importance of what happens between the white lines. The result is either the cherry on top, or the punch to the gut of whoever comes out on the winning and losing side. So, who has been entrusted with the sanity of millions of diehard fans on either side of the rivalry? Just two guys who hail from our humble turf up north here in South Dakota.
The Tennessee Volunteers, who snapped a 15-year losing streak in 2022, are led by head coach Josh Heupel who has taken Tennessee from being a proverbial SEC punching bag into a playoff contender in a matter of seasons. Heupel has had Tennessee vying for a coveted spot in the CFB Playoff for a few years now, and many believe they are one or two pieces away from achieving that. Heupel was born in Aberdeen where he attended Central High and played quarterback for the Golden Eagles. Heupel comes from a football family, his father a head coach at Northern State who taught him all he needed to know about the game. Heupel’s play earned him the honors of South Dakota’s Player of the Year, which led to heavy recruiting inquiries. Heupel would ultimately end up in Oklahoma under Bob Stoops where he would lead the Sooners to an undefeated season and a National Championship. Heupel had a cup of coffee in the NFL, but injuries would cut a career short and thrust him into coaching. In 2021, Heupel landed in Knoxville and in 2022, put the Vols on the radar with an 8-0 start. Heupel secured his place in the hearts of Tennessee fateful when they beat Alabama on a last-second field goal. It was a release of emotion for Tennessee fans who began storming the field immediately after the game ended.
On the opposing sideline were the Alabama Crimson Tide, a team who saw the greatest college coach of all time in Nick Saban head for retirement two years ago. How do you replace a guy who won seven national championships, a guy who changed the landscape of college football? Alabama’s answer was to hire a guy from Sioux Falls who has done nothing but win at each and every stop he has been at along the way. Kalen DeBoer took over for Nick Saban and faced immediate adversity. DeBoer lost four games in his first year as Crimson Tide head coach, the first time Alabama lost that many games since 2007. He also lost to Vanderbilt which Alabama had not done since 1984. It was a rocky genesis for DeBoer, but he has all but made up for it with the stretch he has taken his Tide on over the last four weeks. DeBoer has now beaten four straight ranked opponents, two of which came on the road, something Nick Saban never accomplished. DeBoer also has Alabama ranked inside the top-5 again which is impressive considering their loss against a now unranked Florida State team in the season-opener.
Kalen DeBoer was born in Milbank, where he attended and graduated from Milbank High School, only about 97-miles east of Aberdeen where Heupel was born. DeBoer would play his college football at Sioux Falls until 1996 when he would start playing in the IFL for the Sioux Falls Cobras. DeBoer would also play baseball for Sioux Falls, but his love was housed with football and he would get into coaching immediately after his playing career was over. DeBoer would get his start as an assistant at Sioux Falls Washington coaching football and baseball. Two years later, DeBoer reunited with Bob Young, a man he played for in the late 90’s, then once Young retired, DeBoer was promoted to head coach at Sioux Falls. DeBoer would lead Sioux Falls to a 67-3 record and three NAIA National Championships. As often happens, DeBoer started winning and schools started calling. DeBoer would climb higher and higher through the ranks, landing at Washington where he took the Huskies to a National Championship. Once Saban retired from Alabama, AD Greg Byrne looked at DeBoer’s lifetime record of 104-12 and knew he was the next guy up.
DeBoer got the best of Heupel in the South Dakota head coaches battle with Alabama dominating Tennessee 37-20, but two of the top programs in the country being managed by two gentlemen from South Dakota deserves recognition. They’re not the only South Dakotans making their mark on the top ranks of college football either, former Pierre quarterback Lincoln Kienholz is the second-string quarterback for the #1 team in the country, the Ohio State Buckeyes. Kienholz was in a heated quarterback battle with now-starter Julian Sayin, with head coach Ryan Day taking just about all of the time he had to make the decision before the season began. Kienholz has contributed this year, completing 7 of 8 passes and throwing for a TD for the Buckeyes this season, and he is the guy in case Sayin gets injured.
During the broadcast of the Alabama and Tennessee game, ESPN play-by-play broadcaster Sean McDonough recognized the matchup of South Dakota natives Heupel and DeBoer. While the southern states are known for breeding crops of college football players, South Dakota and the Midwest can churn out some pretty elite coaches.
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