DeBoer Reaches UW Milestone Victory That He Shares with Petersen
EUGENE, Ore. — He spoke plainly and showed up Midwestern-principled, and certainly wasn't a Hollywood coach on the order of USC's Lincoln Riley, leading people to wonder if he might be a little too conservative for the University of Washington football team he inherited.
It didn't take the Husky players long to figure out Kalen DeBoer was just what they wanted and needed. A genuine, disciplined, always-know-where-you-stand head coach.
On Saturday, this new leader, just 10 football games into his stay at the UW, directed his players to one of the program's biggest wins ever, a 37-34 squeaker over the sixth-ranked Oregon Ducks at Autzen Stadium with a FOX national television audience watching.
"There was great talent in the program," DeBoer said in the aftermath, looking spent but overjoyed. "It was getting everyone headed in the right direction. We're doing that."
That he is. He has an 8-2 team, ranked 24th nationally and certain to climb, that's lost games only by a touchdown each time out. Looking to build on it, he now faces the Pac-12's last-place team in Colorado, then state rival Washington State and most likely earn what will be a top-flight bowl game, if not more than that if the Pac-12 race continues to get jumbled up.
With the hard-earned victory, DeBoer did what only he and Chris Petersen have accomplished among the 30 Husky head coaches in program history — win eight games in their debut seasons. Don James captured just six games in his first season, same with Gil Dobie. Typically, the first year for a coach is a rebuilding assignment and some lumps.
DeBoer now has two regular-season games and a bowl outing to surpass Petersen, who was 8-6 in 2014.
"Coach Pete, he did so much for this program," DeBoer said. "So many of these guys came in under him when he was the head coach. That's why we've got such a great group of gentlemen in the locker room who have high character and are great football players."
This new Husky coach took the personal accolade in stride in the brisk Eugene nighttime temperature, of course mentioning everyone else. He's been accepted since the moment he arrived.
"I get a lot of credit because of the wins in the end," DeBoer said. "Everybody's working — and that's what happened tonight."
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