A Moment with Husky DL Coach Inoke Breckterfield
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Inoke Breckterfield is the third University of Washington defensive-line coach in three years, someone tasked with fixing what the others couldn't get done — stopping the run.
He follows on the heels of former Husky safety Ikaika Malloe and promoted quality coach Rip Rowan, now at UCLA and Georgia Southern, respectively, bringing more playing and coaching experience to the job than the others.
Breckterfield was a third-team All-American defensive lineman and the 1998 Morris Trophy winner for Oregon State, the Pac-10's top lineman on either side of the line, who enjoyed some of his considerable success against the Huskies a quarter of a century ago.
Same as Malloe, he's originally from Hawaii. Two years apart, those two twice played against each other in 1995 and 1996, both UW victories.
First impression, this man called Coach Noke appears to be a lot more demanding than his predecessors. He has a much longer resume, too, now on his 13th season of coaching only defensive linemen at Vanderbilt, Wisconsin, Pittsburgh, UCLA, Montana and Weber State.
Among his past protoges' were NFL-bound Aaron Donald at Pitt and T.J. Watt at the Big Ten school.
UW sophomore Voi Tunuufi is one of his players now and has heard about those big-name players developed by his somewhat gruff coach. Breckterfield often leads his group speaking in a low growl.
"He's difficult," Tunuufi said. "He's been hard, but I love every single minute with him. He's got me better as a D-lineman and as a student."
Breckterfield, joining the UW because he considers himself a West Coast guy and wanted to move his family to the area, is fairly point blank about the task at hand.
His Husky defensive linemen have plenty of pounds but not much length. He's pushing them all to get in better shape, especially converted offensive lineman Ulumoo Ale, a former 368-pounder who's been given 330 as a goal weight for the fall.
Breckterfield acknowledges that Tuunufi, at 6-foot-1 and 275 pounds, is a little different body size than normal for this demanding position, but he sees enough strengths in the compact player to compensate for his smaller body.
"He's got explosion, he's quick, he's twitched up, he's strong," the coach said. "He's different than most, but he's got enough to hold the point of attack."
Breckterfield intends to mold all of his UW players into something more fearsome and stingy in permitting rushing yards. He doesn't have much choice.
"We are what we are," he said. "We have to play to our strengths."
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