Inside The Huskies

Keeping Up With the Well-Traveled Robert Bala

The former UW linebackers coach appears to have his third job in 10 months.
Dan Raley|
Robert Bala walks on the field for Florida before a game against the Texas Longhorns this past season.
Robert Bala walks on the field for Florida before a game against the Texas Longhorns this past season. | Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images

Ten months ago, Robert Bala was the University of Washington linebackers coach, getting his players ready for the Sun Bowl.

Demonstrating how transient college football has become even for the assistant coaches, let alone the guys with the scholarships in hand and the transfer portal at the ready to facilitate their needs, Bala reportedly is joining his third team in less than a year.

Bala is set to become James Madison's new defensive coordinator, following coach Billy Napier from Florida to the Dukes, according to CBS Sports.

After a year at the UW on Jedd Fisch's staff, Bala and former Huskies safeties coach Vinnie Sunseri were hired by Napier to be his co-defensive coordinators for the Gators.

Robert Bala oversees a UW spring drill, with Isaiah Ward dropping down in front of him.
Robert Bala oversees a UW spring drill, with Isaiah Ward dropping down in front of him. | Skylar Lin Vusals

A disappointing 4-8 record for Florida put everyone out of work before Napier, who was 22-23 in four seasons at the SEC school, rebounded with the James Madison job, which opened when Bob Chesney was hired away by UCLA.

Chesney, of course, was the Dukes replacement for Curt Cignetti, who left for Indiana and instantly turned the long-suffering Hoosiers into winners and the top seed in the College Football Playoff.

Bala's situation was unique because he came to the UW from Alabama, going in the opposite direction of Kalen DeBoer and some of his select assistant coaches to the Crimson Tide.

He worked on Nick Saban's final Crimson Tide staff and his legendary coach apparently put in a good word for him with Fisch in Montlake.

Bala seemed to be well received last season by a group of Husky linebackers headed that included Carson Bruener, Alphonzo Tuputala, Drew Fowler, Deven Bryant, Bryun Parham and Kmori House. Bruener made it to the NFL. Parham and House led Connecticut and North Carolina in tackles this season, respectively.

What was somewhat amusing about Bala was he sat and answered questions in February news conference in advance of UW spring football while furiously texting throughout the media exchange. Within 48 hours, he was headed to Florida.

He might have been negotiating for one job while maintaining a public presence with the other.

Yet Bala appears to have landed on his feet again at James Madison, though he might be wondering why he ever left the sanctity of a Big Ten coaching job under Fisch rather than cause himself to move from Seattle to Florida to Virginia.

Again, he had to pack up all of his stuff twice over 10 months while moving three time zones.

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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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