Alabama football ended up hiring Washington's Kalen DeBoer as its next coach, but it was quite a couple day journey to get there.

Rumors flew, some which had validity and some that didn't.

The Tuscaloosa News reported the day before Alabama hired DeBoer that DeBoer and Norvell were the top two candidates for the opening, but who else was and wasn't actually considered?

Reporting from ESPN's Chris Low on Wednesday confirmed that Norvell was very much in the mix for the opening and that Florida State even feared it would happen, so much so that Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin would have been a prime candidate to replace him.

Kiffin was never seriously in the mix for the Alabama opening, though, Low reported per sources. Neither was Clemson coach Dabo Swinney.

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As for Steve Sarkisian, another coach who was thought to be considered, Low reported that Alabama's leadership "knew Sarkisian wasn't going to leave Texas, especially with the Longhorns moving to the SEC next season."

Oregon's Dan Lanning showed he wasn't a candidate early on Thursday, with a video that shared he would not leave the Ducks. ESPN reported by that time that Alabama was meeting with DeBoer in Seattle on Thursday and "in serious discussions with Norvell" too, per ESPN.

In the end, Alabama decided to hire DeBoer; he began spring practices with the Crimson Tide this week.

Nick Kelly is the Alabama beat writer for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network, and he covers Alabama football and men's basketball. Reach him at nkelly@gannett.com or follow him @_NickKelly on X, the social media app formerly known as Twitter.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Alabama football coaching search: Lane Kiffin wasn't in mix