How Kalen DeBoer turned Washington football into a powerhouse

Every athletic director wants to hit a home run when hiring a football coach. Usually, the results, good or bad, define his tenure as an AD. Of course, there's no simple formula for a candidate to succeed in college football's big-time jobs.

For athletic directors, there are many questions that arise when making a potentially career-threatening hire. Should ADs look at resumes? Is it better to be a successful lower-level coach or an assistant at a great program? Is skill set more important? Do you emphasize the dominant offensive scheme of the day or select an ace recruiter? Someone with regional ties or national recognition? Who eats, sleeps and drinks football, or who balances work and family? Create a 'winning culture' by introducing strict discipline or by relating players to their level. Do you want to build? AD's job is difficult. Because there is no right answer to any of these questions, and even if there was a right answer, the answer would always change.

Even when AD gets the right hires, it's not always easy to explain why. Former UW AD Jen Cohen definitely had the right candidate when she hired Karen DeBoer from Fresno State to replace Jimmy Lake, who had a short and disappointing tenure at UW. I chose. At the time, DeBoer seemed like a strong candidate, but he wasn't the kind of home run player who would lead a 4-8 team to the College Football Playoff and win AP Coach of the Year two years later. . In fact, many Husky fans were hopeful that negotiations would make progress after the delay. iowa He was coached by Matt Campbell until the school officially announced DeBoer's hiring.

So what is so special about DeBoer? Why has the Huskies made such an immediate and dramatic turnaround under his leadership? As with any coach hire, there is no simple formula or explanation But a complex combination of factors made him the right coach for the right team at the right time.

Watching the Huskies play, it's clear that a major component of DeBoer's successful mix is ​​offensive mastery. DeBoer and offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb's history goes back to their days in NAIA Sioux Falls (where DeBoer went 67-3 and won three NAIA championships), and their close relationship has paid dividends on the field. Grubb, like DeBoer, was not the obvious first choice to be the OC for most Husky fans. The college faithful wanted a bigger name who could recruit more players, assuming DeBoer would serve as the architect of the offense. Instead, Grubb is one of the best assistants in the country and even rejected an offer from Alabama's Nick Saban to stay with the Huskies last summer.

DeBoer and Grubb's alchemy borrows a series of offensive influences. There are concepts derived from the Air Raid, such as trusting the quarterback to make pre-snap reads to predict where the defense might overcommit. DeBoer also talked about how he borrowed different types of pre-snap motion and formation confusion from Chris Petersen's Boise State team to better hide his offensive concepts. They make complex tasks seem very simple. For the past two years, junior Michael Penix has consistently found Roman Odunze when isolated downfield on single coverages. Jalen McMillan is in the slot when lesser defenders are left to cover him. and Jaylin Polk, Jack Westover, Giles Jackson, and the rest of the pass catchers when the defense does its best to stop the big names. This formula led Penix to lead the nation in passing yards and finish as runner-up in Heisman Trophy voting.Huskies were also placed Five^th In Offense SP+, nationwide, One year after entering the top 10.

Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

DeBoer didn't reach the CFP solely through elite play-calling. In fact, the glove calls the plays. The area that DeBoer has more direct control over is the team's game management, which is almost always appropriate. It's not that I think DeBoer tactically circles around other coaches, it's that he rarely leaves any low-hanging fruit on the tree. Between the time management late in the game, the middle eight minutes of the game, and the decision to punt on fourth down, there were few glaring mistakes by the coaching staff.

One of the best examples is the exception that proves the rule. With the Huskies trailing 28-24 just before halftime against Utah, Penix completed a pass to Jack Westover on fourth down that nearly put the Huskies in field goal range. Instead, the play was called back due to a no-target receiver penalty on Washington tight end Quentin Moore. The judges ruled that Moore was ineligible to play because of the position of the players lined up outside of him. The usually quiet DeBoer was more passionate than he ever was on the sidelines in college. The referees could not change the call, but a post-match expert review was almost unanimous that the formation was legal, although it could have been a bit confusing for the referees. In that case, DeBoer's creativity was all too effective. He deceived his opponent and the referee.

Mr. DeBoer's personnel management also deserves praise. Although he has yet to return to a nationally known recruiting class, he took the opportunity to access his transfer portal in order to increase the ceiling of his roster in the right way. Penix is ​​a clear example of a successful transfer. Stop me if you've heard this before, but Husky fans weren't sure Penix could be an upgrade over incumbent Dylan Morris, who came over from Indiana after an injury-plagued season. The Huskies kept him mostly upright, healthy, and very productive.

There are a number of other transfers on this year's roster who have reached new heights under Coach DeBoer. Dillon Johnson and Wayne Taulapapa were relatively under-the-radar running backs who produced impressive results over the past two years. Jabbar Muhammad has been a difference-maker at cornerback. Jermie Bernard, Will Nixon, and Josh Cuevas have all shown flashes at the skill positions.

Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports

Perhaps more important than who DeBoer brings in is who he retains. In an era of constant roster turnover, the Dawgs maintained remarkable continuity at key positions after an 11-2 season in 2022. Penix, Odunze, and McMillan all played one more year in college, avoiding the certainty of being selected in the NFL draft. Bralen Trice and Zion Tupuola-Fetui did the same on the defensive line (notably, all of these players received at least a portion of the money they could have earned, making the decision easier than before). He entered the NFL through his college's NIL collective (which means he likely joined the NFL through his college's NIL collective). It's too early to judge much of DeBoer's recruiting efforts out of high school, but he's proven to be an excellent “retention recruiter” for current star players. In today's college football environment, that's an invaluable skill.

Offensive schemes, play calling, game management, and roster construction are all important components, but not enough to separate them from at least 100 other overqualified football fanatic coaching teams across the country. What has made DeBoer successful is less tangible, but there's no denying that he hasn't proven it over time in different places. I'm naturally skeptical of things I can't directly observe, so I frown on vague concepts like chemistry or team culture. Virtually every team thinks they have a winning culture going into fall camp, and half of them end up with a losing record. Even within NAIA, mountain westor the Pac-12, DeBoer didn't end up in that losing group.

In an interview with Bruce Feldman before the season started, DeBoer gave an answer that essentially distilled his coaching philosophy. You want to win big tournaments and championships, and you want to do it over and over again, and that's what helps you win repeatedly at the highest level. But winning championships requires a different level of chemistry, and the bond that exists needs to be just that elite. That's because it's becoming more difficult every year. ”

Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

character. Chemistry. bond. There's something great, but how do you know if it's there? In DeBoer's case, the evidence isn't direct, but it's well circumstantial. Looking back at the accomplishments listed here, many of them demonstrate the relationships, chemistry, and mutual responsibility that DeBoer mentioned. His strong bond with Grubb, which kept him there despite an offer from Alabama, shows the great relationship and respect he has. For players like Penix, Odunze and Trice to return to Seattle without going to the NFL Draft is a rare blend of chemistry and mutual respect. Mr. DeBoer's repeated success at various levels further supports the inductive logic that he has indeed built a winning culture.

So what can aspiring ADs learn about Cohen's successful recruitment of DeBoer at UW? Plenty of wins on multiple levels and a great, lasting relationship in the process? If someone has built one, it's probably not a coincidence. The mystical amalgamation of competitive success has some material elements like play calling, scheme, rosters and game management, but there are also relational elements that are more difficult to quantify. In DeBoer's case, that streak has been present throughout his career, and it's no coincidence that he brought those skills to Washington, which is currently in the College Football Playoff.