Who should Texas A&M football hire? A coach who beats Texas. See Kalen DeBoer | Toppmeyer

Texas A&M will want its next football coach to be someone who can beat Texas. So, how about trying to hire the guy who beat Texas?

Washington’s Kalen DeBoer doesn’t possess Lane Kiffin's name recognition. In fact, each time I type DeBoer’s surname, I look up whether it ends in -er or -ar. (It’s the former. Maybe, I’ll remember someday.)

He doesn’t have the nouveau riche cachet of Oregon’s 37-year-old Dan Lanning.

He doesn’t have Texas roots like Texas-San Antonio’s Jeff Traylor or Florida State’s Mike Norvell, and he never previously worked at Texas A&M, like Duke’s Mike Elko.

So, what’s DeBoer got? Victories. A lot of them.

Including one win against the Longhorns in the Alamo Bowl last December. Including two wins in two tries against Lanning’s Ducks, even though most would consider Oregon to have the more talented roster.

Unlike Jimbo Fisher, DeBoer didn’t inherit a program from Bobby Bowden.

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Kalen DeBoer brought Washington football back to life

Washington’s program has pedigree. UW won a championship under the revered Don James. The Huskies returned to prominence under Chris Petersen.

But, they finished 4-8 in 2021, the final season of Jimmy Lake’s brief, messy tenure. Then they hired DeBoer from Fresno State, and losing became forbidden.

He’s 21-2 in two seasons, and the No. 5 Huskies (10-0) are knocking on the door of the College Football Playoff. How worried are folks in Seattle about losing DeBoer?

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The Seattle Times published a frantic column this week pleading for UW to “pay the man.” DeBoer is making $4.2 million this season, less than half of Fisher’s salary.

Hate to break it to the fine folks from Starbucks Land, but if Texas A&M decides DeBoer is its guy, you aren’t outbidding the Aggies’ tycoons. You’ll lose at the contract table, then lose again at the gas pump.

The toughest part about securing DeBoer might be getting him to lose a game. Unless DeBoer shares DNA with Brian Kelly, he’s probably not leaving the Huskies while they’re in line for the playoff. If the Huskies win their next three games, they’re in. The nature of college football’s recruiting and transfer calendar means schools can’t wait until January to hire a coach.

DeBoer, a South Dakota native, would be an outsider for Texas A&M, but the Aggies just fired a coach who was the son of a cattle rancher and coal miner. Boots were a fit on Fisher, and he had a Texas-sized ego.

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So, let’s put aside that DeBoer has spent most of his life north of the Mason-Dixon Line. If cultural fit was the key to success, Fisher would have won multiple national championships.

Plus, I imagine Texans would appreciate DeBoer’s story. He received no handouts. He methodically worked his way up the coaching ladder. He won national championships coaching NAIA Sioux Falls, his alma mater where he played wide receiver, before breaking into the FCS and then the FBS at Eastern Michigan. DeBoer lacks SEC experience. So did Nick Saban and Urban Meyer when LSU and Florida hired them.

Would Kalen DeBoer leave Washington Huskies for Aggies’ pressure cooker?

Lanning pledged allegiance to Oregon. Coaches’ ability to lie rivals politicians, but I admit Lanning came off convincing.

“Everything I want exists right here,” Lanning said. “I’m not going anywhere. There’s zero chance that I would be coaching somewhere else. I’ve got unfinished business here. There’s a lot that I want to accomplish here at Oregon.”

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Now, for DeBoer’s chance to affirm commitment: “This is a great place. … My family loves it here,” he said, adding that UW possesses “the bones of championships.”

Aggies supporters would say Texas A&M is a great place, too, with the bones to win championships.

Aside from the complications of leaving a playoff contender, the timing is prime for DeBoer to parlay Washington's success into a richer gig. He looks like a quarterback whisperer after developing Michael Penix, a mediocre quarterback at Indiana, into a Heisman Trophy frontrunner at UW. Penix will depart for the NFL after this season.

Despite DeBoer’s success, Washington isn’t lighting up the recruiting trail. Texas A&M would expose him to more five-star prospects.

At Washington, DeBoer no longer working for the athletics director who hired him.

Most notably, this is Washington’s final season in the Pac-12 before joining the Big Ten. Realignment will present Washington with a harsher travel schedule, including cross-country flights. How will that affect the Huskies? Ohio State, Michigan, Oregon, Southern Cal and Penn State will headline the expanded Big Ten. The Huskies can hold their own against that group, but if you’re having to go up against Ohio State and Michigan instead of Stanford and Cal, you might as well face Alabama, Georgia and Texas while armed with Texas A&M’s war chest.

DeBoer wouldn't be the splashiest candidate for the Aggies. He doesn’t call himself the Portal King or troll his rivals on social media, and, unlike Lanning, no one will confuse DeBoer with Chris Pratt.

But, DeBoer beat Texas. In College Station, that should count for plenty.

Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network's SEC Columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer.

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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Texas A&M football candidates: Hire Kalen DeBoer, Aggies. He beats Texas