Inside The Huskies

DeBoer Continues to Make the Rounds, Visits Tacoma's Lincoln High

The new Husky football coach travels to the school that holds the state's top prospect.
Dan Raley|
DeBoer Continues to Make the Rounds, Visits Tacoma's Lincoln High
DeBoer Continues to Make the Rounds, Visits Tacoma's Lincoln High

Driving from Montlake to Tacoma, traffic must have been horrible. There's just no getting around a backed-up, bumper-to-bumper commute over a busy section of Interstate 5 that covers 30 miles and two counties.

Yet on Friday morning, new University of Washington football coach Kalen DeBoer navigated this well-traveled path to Seattle's sister city and made an early morning visit to Lincoln High School, a stop that should be on every self-respecting Power 5 football leader's itinerary these days.

This is where 5-star edge rusher Jayden Wayne — the state's top player for the class of 2023 and pursued by everyone who matters in college football — attends class and holds court. 

DeBoer certainly has no problem making the rounds and letting everyone know where he goes, posing for a photo with Abes coach Masaki Matsumoto that would quickly go up on social media. 

This might be unfair to the previous UW coach, because he might have made these kind of trips and didn't publicize them, but it seemed that players and coaches had to come to Jimmy Lake to talk recruiting, not the other way around. 

With a player holding a national reputation such as Wayne, the coach who lands his signature on a national letter of intent has to go out of his way to make the 6-foot-5, 245-pound feel wanted by his program.

Noting the high caliber of Northwest football players available, recruits such as Rainier Beach High offensive lineman Josh Conerly, Rainier Beach cornerback Caleb Presley and Wayne, the Huskies have promoted a customized recruiting campaign they've dubbed "Loyal to the Soil" in an effort to dissuade them from leaving.

Wayne, without a doubt, has taken a lot of trips to the various college football powerhouses and is savvy to the way things work in recruiting. He seems to enjoy the widespread attention, posting something new every day on an offer, re-offer or simply reaffirmation of recruiting interest by him or by some school. 

Consider this promotional video he participated in, which shows his personal maturity and football confidence.

"I'm fast, athletic, can play any position, strong," Wayne said on camera. "Every time I step on the field, I feel I'm a whole different person."

DeBoer, even if he had to act like he was making a house call to meet with the entire Lincoln football program and not just Wayne, was wise to put this trip on his schedule. He doesn't want to be foiled by the soil without putting in the effort. 

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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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