One Powerball gambler already has a game plan for how she will spend the first $70 million if she hits the jackpot: Use it to get Alabama head football coach Kalen DeBoer “the heck out” of Tuscaloosa.
Susie Conerly, a resident of Guntersville, Ala., told local CBS station WHNT 19 she could not think of a better way to use her newfound riches, if she gets lucky on Saturday night. And her second move — if she beats the odds and wins the $1.8 billion grand prize — would be to fire the man who hired DeBoer, Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne.
“I’ll tell you exactly what I’d do with the first $70 million,” Conerly said on Friday evening. “I’d pay off Kalen DeBoer and get him the heck out of the University of Alabama. And then I’d take whatever else it took to get rid of the AD.”
The blonde-haired, sunglasses-wearing southerner seemed to be good-natured about it, but she is clearly not happy with DeBoer after Alabama’s football team lost 31-17 to Florida State last weekend. DeBoer is also coming off of a lackluster season by Alabama standards in 2024, when his team went 9-4 and finished the year with a loss in the ReliaQuest Bowl. The former Washington coach was hired last year to replace legendary coach Nick Saban, who won six national titles while leading the
Conerly figured she would have “plenty” of money to pay off DeBoer — who had about $77 million remaining on his contract, which runs through 2031, heading into this season — after paying her taxes on the winnings.
She let WHNT 19 know she is not banking on her dream of axing DeBoar coming true, though.
“I know I’m not going to win, I just hope I win some scratch-offs,” Conerly said.
Either way, she will find out pretty soon, with the Powerball drawing starting at 10:59 p.m. ET on Saturday.
You can watch her brief interview above, via WHNT’s YouTube account.