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Inside The Huskies

DeBoer's UW Roster Remnants Growing Fewer All The Time

Only seven scholarship players remain who played for him in Montlake.
Dan Raley|
Geirean Hatchett (56) is one of seven UW scholarship players who played for Kalen DeBoer and are still on the roster.
Geirean Hatchett (56) is one of seven UW scholarship players who played for Kalen DeBoer and are still on the roster. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Kalen DeBoer's recent two-year contract extension at Alabama only further served to remind everyone at the University of Washington just how far removed they've become from that coaching regime.

The man who took the Huskies to the College Football Playoff championship game has been gone for 28 months now. In some ways, it still feels like yesterday.

Yet another way to measure the DeBoer disconnect with Montlake is to consider the following: just seven scholarship players remain on the UW roster who played for that coach.

Add to that five high school recruits who signed national letters of intent with him back then and answer to Jedd Fisch now.

Factor in two walk-ons who played for DeBoer are among the remaining players.

And then there's offensive tackle Drew Azzopardi, who signed as a transfer with DeBoer's staff, attended the College Football Playoff championship game in Houston and stayed to play for Fisch following the coaching change.

Drew Azzopardi was one of a dozen or so transfers who accompanied the Huskies to the 2024 national title game.
Drew Azzopardi was one of a dozen or so transfers who accompanied the Huskies to the 2024 national title game. | Dan Raley

The remaining active players from the DeBoer era are the Hatchett brothers, offensive linemen Geirean and Landen Hatchett; offensive tackles Soane Faasolo and Elishah Jackett; defensive tackle Elinneus Davis; wide receiver Rashid Williams, and edge rusher Jacob Lane.

Walk-on center Parker Cross and offensive guard Aidan Anderson similarly suited up for DeBoer's Husky teams.

Omar Khan (98) and Elinneus Davis are remnants of the DeBoer coaching era.
Omar Khan (98) and Elinneus Davis are remnants of the DeBoer coaching era. | Dave Sizer photo

Players who signed with DeBoer on December 20, 2023, only to see him leave three weeks later, and have remained with the Huskies are tight end Decker DeGraaf, wide receiver Justice Williams, cornerback Elias Johnson, safety Paul Mencke Jr. and defensive tackle Omar Khan.

Of this collective bunch, the Hacketts, Williams, Davis and Lane are possible starters entering the upcoming season.

Jacob Lane played for DeBoer's 2023 Husky team.
Jacob Lane played for DeBoer's 2023 Husky team. | Dave Sizer photo

Other than that, there are very few physical clues that DeBoer spent two years coaching the Huskies and winning 25 of 28 games in the process.

None of the assistant coaches or the strength and conditioning staff are holdovers from one coach to the next.

Since DeBoer left, his UW coaches have scattered across college football, with many of them on second jobs now.

Former Husky receivers coach JaMarcus Shephard went with DeBoer to Alabama, but once this past season ended, he accepted the Oregon State head-coaching job.

His Beavers won't play the UW in a football game any time soon, with the schools members of different conferences now, but you can probably hear the extra-effusive, extra-loud Shephard bellowing all the way to Seattle while promoting his football team.

With college football exploring an expanded playoff season, that just bring the Huskies and DeBoer closer to meeting on the field some day.

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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