Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer was the subject of numerous rumors throughout what was a wild coaching hiring cycle towards the end of last season, being named as a fit both for the Penn State and Michigan openings.

As it turns out, DeBoer never had any interest in leaving, and he declared that virtually every time he was asked about his name coming up in other openings. During an in depth interview with On3’s Chris Low, he has doubled down on the mindset that he has his sights set only on Alabama.

“We’re right here where we want to be, and I plan on being here for a while,” DeBoer told Low. “I mean, this is Alabama…I’m at an amazing place. That’s the way I was looking at it. I chose to be here. I love the support and love our players and love the direction and everything the staff has done to put the pieces together here over the last two years. A lot of heavy lifting’s been done to get us to this point.”

More importantly, DeBoer knows he still has work to do in order to get the program back to contending for national titles, but believes this past season — where the Tide made the College Football Playoff and won a road game at Oklahoma — was at the very least a step in the right direction.

“We fell short of our ultimate goal, which is to be the last team standing, but I think we took a step in the right direction as a program,” he continued. “I think there were some experiences that we can draw on that both we overcame and areas we fell short, and we need to use them to be better this next year. Every year, you’ve got to re-establish your culture. You’ve really got to re-create an attitude within, and we’re doing that right now.”

It’s a huge season for DeBoer with what will be a new look offense in year three. If it’s up to him though, it seems he has absolutely no interest in coaching anywhere else for a very long time.