Inside The Huskies

Gregory Takes Husky DC Assignment in Stride, Willing to do What's Needed

Low-key coach is entrusted with fixing UW run defense that got victimized in 2020.
Dan Raley|
Gregory Takes Husky DC Assignment in Stride, Willing to do What's Needed
Gregory Takes Husky DC Assignment in Stride, Willing to do What's Needed

Bob Gregory entered the University of Washington team room on Friday as the Husky defensive coordinator, newly promoted in the offseason from inside linebackers coach only to what many consider a coveted job. 

Rather revel than in his good fortune, Gregory merely shrugged and was self-deprecating, acting almost as if no one else was available to take the role once Pete Kwiatkowski bolted for Texas.  

"I'm like 92 years old," he quipped. "I'm good with whatever. I've been coaching a long time."

Actually, Gregory, a Spokane native, is 57.

Yes, he has been around college football for quite a while, having served spent 33 seasons as an assistant coach at six schools. He's previously been a defensive coordinator for 15 seasons, coaching at California for eight of them during the Aaron Rodgers and Marshawn Lynch era. 

Reminded that he welcomed no longer being a defensive coordinator when he left Cal in 2009, willing to shed extra duties to be closer to his family, Gregory said times have changed for him.

"Yeah, good question," he said. "It's probably a good time to do it. Other than that, my kids are a little bit older. New challenge. That's probably it."

His immediate responsibility as the defensive coordinator will be to shore up the Huskies' run defense, one that got shredded a few times under Kwiatkowski last season against Utah and Stanford. 

"We're not going to win too many games giving up 200 yards rushing a game," he said. "We've got to talk about it, put more emphasis on how we take on blocks, strike blockers better, get another guy up in the box to stop the run, all of that."

To no surprise, the Huskies have been shifting between a four- and a five-man front as they take on their daily drills, with Gregory overseeing it all. 

No, he hasn't needed a walker or a cane to keep after his guys. Not yet.

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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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