Husky Coach Review: On Your Marks, Get Set, Run the Ball

Lee Marks was a lonely man. It was spring football in 2022 and the newly hired University of Washington running-backs coach had just two scholarship players available to him the whole month because of injuries. His position drills were sparsely attended and over before you knew it.

Looking back at it, those 15 practices proved to be somewhat a waste of his coaching time because that aforementioned pair of Husky rushers — Jay'Veon Sunday and Aaron Dumas — weren't long for the program in Montlake and those Texans now play for Abilene Christian and UTEP, respectively.

The thing about Marks, however, is he's known to be cool under pressure and flexible enough to deal with a delicate situation.

For instance, when Kalen DeBoer accepted the UW job and left Fresno State before its postseason game, the school without any hesitation turned the Mountain West football team over to Marks, designated as the associate head coach besides running-back coach, and he directed the Bulldogs to a 31-24 victory over UTEP in the New Mexico Bowl.

As for the Huskies' position shortfall, Marks later found healthy and capable running backs during the 2022 season and what he did with them in a pass-first offense was nothing short of amazing in a post-Myles Gaskin world: Virginia transfer Wayne Taulapapa rushed for a team-leading 887 yards and scored 12 touchdowns both running and receiving, while back-up Cam Davis chipped in 522 rushing yards and topped the Huskies with 13 touchdowns, all on the ground.

Marks also drew some needed production out of Richard Newton, Will Nixon and Sam Adams II, with each of them finding the end zone and demonstrating the ability to run and catch the football.

"That room is a lot more competitive," UW coach Kalen DeBoer said at the end of spring ball. "I'm super proud of the way they're approaching it and attacking it."

Going through the coaching staff, Marks 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.

Lee Marks is 1-0 as a head coach, guiding Fresno State to a 31-24 victory over UTEP in the New Mexico Bowl after Kalen DeBoer left for Washington.

Lee Marks was a second-team All-WAC running back for Boise State in 2005, so he knows what it takes to be a productive player at the position.

When Lee Marks went through 2021 spring ball at the UW, he had just two healthy back available to him, Jay'Veon Sunday and Aaron Dumas.

Lee Marks signed Tybo Rogers shortly after coming to the UW and had him in spring ball as an early enrollee.

Lee Marks speaks at a New Mexico Bowl news conference, comfortable in his sudden position of top leadership duties for Boise State.

Lee Marks poses with a running-back recruit named Samuel Harris, who tried on some Husky gear and got a Montlake tour.

Lee Marks holds up the New Mexico Bowl trophy after Fresno State beat UTEP 31-24 in the 2021 postseason game in Albuquerque.

Lee Marks runs the sideline as the interim head coach for the Fresno State Bulldogs during the New Mexico Bowl.

Marks is hardly alone these days when the Huskies hold a practice. While Taulapapa was a one-season player for hire, Davis, Newton, Nixon and Adams return and are joined by Mississippi State transfer Dillon Johnson, Arizona State transfer Daniyel Ngata and a touted freshman in Tybo Rogers.

Only the Husky wide receivers might boast a larger collection of ready-to-play athletes among DeBoer's position groups.

A California native, Marks has been on a steady career path as a college player and a coach that in a lot of ways has mirrored that of UW cornerbacks coach Juice Brown.

They were Boise State teammates in 2002 and 2003, playing the positions they now direct, and Broncos coaches together in 2014 and 2015 for Bryan Harsin's staff. They coached together previously at Arkansas State in 2013 for Harsin. And they coached together for DeBoer at Fresno State in 2020 and 2021 and followed him to the UW, luckily not following Harsin to Auburn, where everyone would have lost their jobs.

Marks, who rushed for 1,773 yards and 8 touchdowns as a two-year starter, was named Boise State's offensive MVP in 2005 when Chris Petersen was in his final season as offensive coordinator.

In 2019 during the Las Vegas Bowl, Marks was on the Boise State sideline for for Petersen's final game as the Husky coach, a 38-7 UW victory.

So the guy's been around and knows what he's doing. He was well acquainted with part of the UW running-back roster coming in. Marks tried to recruit the Huskies' Newton to Boise State and Adams to Fresno State.

Rogers, from Bakersfield and the very first recruit who committed to the DeBoer staff once in Seattle, could turn out to be the best of all of the running backs now on the roster.

Yet Rogers will have to get in line to receive his practice reps, because there is a line now, one as long as the other was embarrassingly short, with Marks calmly directing traffic.

LEE MARKS FILE

Background: Marks was selected as a second-team All-WAC running back at Boise State in 2005, so he knows what it takes to perform at a high level at this position and can pass that along.

Big Fix: While the Huskies have run a cast of thousands through the position in recent seasons — remember when Sean McGrew, Kamari Pleasant, Cam Davis and Newton, in that order, actually shared game carries in the ill-fated Lake/Donovan pro-style offense during the four-game pandemic season of 2020? — DeBoer's staff has been good at designating roles and settling on lead backs, with Davis designated No. 1 entering fall camp.

Special Project: Again, this would be Rogers, the freshman from Bakersfield, California, with Marks tasked with getting him ready to play as soon as possible. Rogers looked like a highly capable player during spring practice with his combination of speed, toughness and confidence, and he appears to be a perfect fit for the DeBoer/Grubb wide-open offense.

Go to si.com/college/washington to read the latest Inside the Huskies stories — as soon as they’re published.

Not all stories are posted on the fan sites.

Find Inside the Huskies on Facebook by searching: Inside Huskies/FanNation at SI.com or https://www.facebook.com/dan.raley.12

Follow Dan Raley of Inside the Huskies on Twitter: @DanRaley1 or @UWFanNation or @DanRaley3

Have a question, direct message me on Facebook or Twitter.

Add us as a preferred source on Google