Husky Coach Review: Huff Making Most of His Montlake Reprieve

Preparing for the 2021 season, the University of Washington offensive line was gigantic on paper. On the scales. In concept.

The five returning starters averaged 6-foot-5 and 327 pounds per man, topped by Ulumoo Ale, who turned up as the Pac-12's second-meatiest player at 365 pounds, Henry Bainivalu waddling around at 340 and Victor Curne packing 330.

They were set to become the Huskies' heaviest offensive line in school history.

Asked if these guys somehow were too big, veteran line coach Scott Huff shrugged it off and said he wasn't concerned.

He should have been. Twelve fairly unimpressive games later, the UW offense was declared a massive failure in a 4-8 season, the line a big disappointment and head coach Jimmy Lake the wrong man for the job in Montlake, with his lack of attention to detail, or poundage, a glaring omission.

Out of this rubble, just one coach stepped out of it unscathed — Huff.

While setting new parameters for overall team fitness, especially with big-body offensive linemen, Kalen DeBoer put together his staff and offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb, a former line coach, deemed Huff salvageable as the run-blocking and pass-protecting guru.

"He's been. huge," Grubb said. "There was a lot of evidence to keep a great coach like Coach Huff. That's not an industry norm when you come in, take over a program and keep a guy, especially in such a pivotal position."

Today, Huff's projected starters, all new since 2021, average a longer and leaner 6-foot-6 and 311 pounds across the front wall.

With a pass-minded offense in place, the line comes off a season in which it permitted just seven sacks while the entire unit averaged a showy 39.7 points per game.

Huff can take a couple of bows, both for surviving the coaching purge and for providing results for DeBoer.

Going through the coaching staff, Huff is next up in a series of profiles about each of the Huskies' coordinators and assistant coaches, summing up their time spent in Montlake so far and surmising what might come next for them.x

Offensive-line coach Scott Huff was the only holdover when Jimmy Lake got fired and Kalen DeBoer got hired.

Behind sunglasses, Scott Huff keeps an eye on his offensive linemen in spring ball.

Husky line coach Scott Huff offers blocking advice to a group that includes tight ends and running backs.

Scott Huff watches offensive tackle Troy Fautanu take his turn on the blocking sled during spring practice.

Scott Huff spoke with the media before the Las Vegas Bowl in 2019 in the old UW football meeting room.

Scott Huff stands on a blocking sled to provide added weight as Julius Buelow puts his shoulders into it.

The camera caught him with his eyes closed, but Scott Huff was very much awake while he sized up his offensive linemen during recent spring practice.

Scott Huff visited offensive tackle Samuel Peacock at Gig Harbor High School during the player's recruitment in 2020.

Huff is an overly positive and always protective line coach. He's acknowledged as much how he'll have only complimentary things to say about his guys, to the point media members have to make their own conclusions when lineup changes are made.

Such was the case in 2021 when Julius Buelow beat out Ale at left guard to open the season, then gave the job back to Ale at midseason, before Troy Fautanu moved in front of both of them to finish up. Everyone supposedly played great, according to Huff, where in reality the first two struggled.

Yet Huff is well liked by the Husky linemen, seems to be good with them in getting his teachings across and has recruited well.

In Roger Rosengarten and Fautanu, he now has a pair of offensive tackles as talented as any in the conference. He has five line recruits coming in, with freshman center Landen Hatchett a player with definitive star quality.

If Huff has learned anything himself, it's that bigger isn't necessarily better.

SCOTT HUFF FILE

Background: Huff can relate to his guys because he was a 40-game starter as a Boise State center and a first-team All-WAC selection as a senior in 2002. He enters his seventh season as a UW line coach for this third different coach, this after 11 seasons as a Boise State assistant coach. Chris Petersen hired him when he took over in Boise in 2006 and brought him to Seattle in 2017.

Big Fix: Julius Buelow. The 6-foot-8, 313-pound Hawaiian lost his starting job in 2021 because he couldn't everyone off then quarterback Dylan Morris and gets a chance to reclaim it this fall. Huff needs to take advantage of this guy's size while getting him to play much nastier.

Special Project: Parker Brailsford. While a little undersized at 6-foot-2 and 275 pounds, this redshirt freshman has impressed with his strength and quickness and could be a big contributor for a long time.

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