DeBoer Named Sporting News Coach of the Year

The Husky leader has received two such honors in a week's time.

Not quite good enough, that's how outsiders view this University of Washington football team, for whatever reason. 

The Huskies simply aren't deserving yet of winning the Heisman Trophy, the Biletnikoff Award or now likely the Sugar Bowl, they have concluded.

Ah, but to underestimate Kalen DeBoer's football team and its players is to totally under-appreciate the head coach himself.

Oregon knows it has better facilities, more 4- and 5-star prospects littering its football roster and a highly successful program built for the long term, but its loyal followers can't seem to understand how the Huskies have beaten the Ducks in three consecutive games by three points in Eugene, in Seattle and on a neutral field.

USC is the far superior school and athletic program, or so Trojans followers believe, and they were able to convince former UW athletic director Jen Cohen of this when they hired her away. Yet there was a look of disbelief on all of their faces in Los Angeles when DeBoer's Huskies came into the Coliseum, had their way when it mattered and left with a 52-42 victory.

And then there's Texas, the next opponent on a big stage. For the Huskies, it's been there, done that.

While the UW has plenty of talent interspersed across the lineup, though remember it's supposedly not quite good enough to win that Heisman or Biletnikoff award, the one thing outsiders are learning fairly quickly is this: play Washington and you're bound to get out-coached. 

Outplayed and out-hustled at times, but more so outsmarted.

It is not often the letters @NAIA appear in the resume of an elite Power 5 coach. The journey @UW_Football’s Kalen DeBoer to @sportingnews Coach of the Year is different than most. He’s what they call in show business a “20 year overnight success.”https://t.co/mwS4YnmAeE

— Michael DeCourcy (@tsnmike) December 15, 2023

It begins with DeBoer, whose sensational 24-2 beginning in Montlake has people acknowledging his organizational and strategic talents, such as The Sporting News, which on Friday named the Husky leader its Coach of the Year.

In selecting him as the college game's best in a headset, TSN's Mike DeCourcey profiled DeBoer in an interesting manner, talking to a range of UW-affiliated people, from former All-America tackle Lincoln Kennedy who remains connected to his alma mater to long-time radio host Dave Mahler who doesn't hide his unwavering affection for the program.

Here's a sample of what DeCourcey found as he did a background check on the UW football coach, with the full story accessed here:

DeBoer, 49, is one of those 20-year overnight success stories, like Hannah Waddingham from "Ted Lasso" or country music's Chris Stapleton. DeBoer followed up an 11-2 debut season at Washington in 2022 with this season's 13-0 dash into the semifinals of the College Football Playoff. So he's winning in the big time at a 92 percent clip. His journey to this pinnacle has been a long one, though, and originated in places that rarely launch coaches into the big time.

In his second season in Montlake, DeBoer stands two games from winning a national championship, which is nothing short of incredible. After all, it took Chris Petersen three years to reach this point, which everyone thought was pretty darn fast. Unlike Petersen, DeBoer inherited a 4-8 team that needed some massaging and reassurance.

So here he is the national coach of the year, for the second time in six days, after receiving the Home Depot accolade on the ESPN awards show.

While the other individual honors sent the Huskies' way were debatable and proved elusive, this one is not. 

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