DeBoer Finally Gets to See the Real Edefuan Ulofoshio

Kalen DeBoer and his University of Washington coaching staff brought in 16 new players for spring football practice, eager to see what all of them could do.

This infusion of new talent runs the spectrum of the transfer portal, junior-college ranks and the high-school level.

Actually, the Husky coaches could say they have yet another "new" addition on top of all those other recent arrivals, a 17th player per se they haven't seen before, someone finally showing off all of his skills.

Edefuan Ulofoshio.

"I told him that kind of toward the end of winter workouts, 'I've never seen ... like you,' " DeBoer said. "I saw him at the end of the year out there and helping us, leading us, and all those character things he brings to the team."

While inheriting a talented crew from the Jimmy Lake regime and adding to it, DeBoer has had to wait to get his hands on Ulofoshio, who was coming off knee and arm injuries that cost the defender large segments of two seasons, and made him the last veteran to return from medical purgatory.

Those with good memories will remember that Ulofoshio earned second-team All-Pac-12 accolades following the 2020 season and was singled out by Pro Football Focus as the nation's top returning linebacker entering 2021.

DeBoer patiently has waited for the 6-foot-1, 234-pound player to get totally healthy again, getting the linebacker for last season's final five games in a reserve capacity in what amounted to a movie trailer.

Today, the Husky coach has a full-blown Ulofoshio at his disposal, moving around the field freely and confidently, and carrying a physique as ripped as anyone on the roster.

"Now he's had this offseason and now he's really comfortable," DeBoer said. "There's bursts to him and another level of physicality that you see, and obviously the leadership piece is still is getting better every day."

Ulofoshio, of course, might be the most inspirational player pulling on a uniform right now on a UW team full of a lot of motivated people.

His background in a nutshell is he came to the UW without a scholarship as a walk-on player and proved him in an extraordinary way.

Quick, name any other walk-on anywhere who came off the bench to earn conference defensive player of the week honors, as Ulofoshio did in 2019 for the Pac-12 for his efforts at Oregon State.

On top of that, he's a pre-med student determined to be a doctor maybe in some third-world nation, demonstrating his highly motivated mindset.

DeBoer has had to wait for Ulofoshio to regain his health, but he now has the full services of one of his best players, certainly one of the most admired.

"It's fun to see him lead," the coach said. "The things he's saying, the things he's doing, the care he has not just for his position group, but that side of the ball and the whole team."

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