Inside The Huskies

New Leaders Emerge As Husky Football Goes Through Reset

Finally the UW team pokes its head outside of a difficult two weeks.
Dan Raley|
New Leaders Emerge As Husky Football Goes Through Reset
New Leaders Emerge As Husky Football Goes Through Reset

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Washington Huskies

Kalen DeBoer isn't any less of a college football coach, or a human being for that matter, because he left Washington for Alabama, for taking advantage of his skyrocketing career, for being a fierce competitor. This is the same guy who beat Oregon three times, Texas twice and USC in Los Angeles. Why wouldn't he want to take on an SEC challenge?

Nor do Parker Brailsford, Germie Bernard or Austin Mack, all elite players in their own right, need to be ridiculed for continuing to want to play for the man.  

The backlash has been way over the top with a lot of supposed Husky fans taking it extra personal with the upward trajectory of the UW football program suddenly flattening out. That person, make that knucklehead, who described DeBoer as "trash" on a social-media posting was about as simple-minded as it gets. He must have gone through a bad break-up in high school.

However, what has been most disturbing surrounding Husky football has been the collective rush for the door in reaction to change, to a new guy in charge, to a different way of throwing an out pass, without any protests.

While one player's mother curtly suggested that media members needed to let the undecided assess their future moves without any distracting commentary, it was not a totally unreasonable request, except for the fact that, well, Rome was burning.

More to the point, the glaring absence of player leadership coming from the nation's second-best football team, no matter who's graduated or transferred out, was troublesome. It was if nobody cared until — presumably with some ample prodding from new coach Jedd Fisch — some sort of pulse showed up on Monday. 

Player after player emerged from the darkness that has been Husky Football for two weeks and posted something notably motivational on social media.

"Bow down to Washington," wrote edge rusher Zach Durfee, expected to be one of the UW's next great players.

"Focused and locked in!" posted redshirt freshman defensive tackle Anthony James, the prize of last year's recruiting class.

"2024 Now What?" said redshirt freshman linebacker Deven Bryant, who should contend for a starting job.

Finally, players began stepping up and filling necessary roles to get everything back on track once more after the initial shock of a Montlake makeover finally started to subside.

The Parker twins, Leroy Bryant, Tristan Dunn, Jacob Lane, Kam Fabiculanan and Maurice Heims, all players who will be in competition for starting and playmaking roles, likewise came forward, providing a voice, which has been lacking since DeBoer turned his office keys over to Fisch.

At the national title game, James, the 6-foot-5, 272-pound Texas rusher from Texas, spoke about his initial difficulties as a Husky freshman in learning his place on the team, and how he relied on the older guys to prepare him for what was coming. Now he's ready to step out on his own.

"I want to get on the field as fast as I can," he said in Houston.

The program didn't come to an end, just a glorious but all too brief era of Husky football under DeBoer, with Fisch hiring coaches and obtaining commitments left and right to make the team competitive again.

These coaches aren't all that much different. The same week DeBoer's Huskies were beating Texas in the Sugar Bowl, Fisch's Wildcats were thumping Oklahoma in the Alamo Bowl, leaving all sorts of possibilities open in terms of continued success.

Michael Penix Jr., Rome Odunze, Edefuan Ulofoshio and Bralen Trice were the team-appointed leaders this past season and they were as good as it gets. They had everyone's attention at all times. They made things happen. They took responsibility.

Now look for guys such as Carson Bruener, Alphonzo Tuputala, Josh Cuevas, Fabiculanan and the much-discussed Durfee to provide big plays and lasting words for everyone to rally around. Fabiculanan even went on KJR radio to give sort of a state of the union moment.

"His energy has been unreal," Fabiculanan said of Fisch. 

Fisch might have a different personality and a playbook that runs counter to DeBoer's, but it appears this new coach and his staff work just as hard as their predecessors, and that the remaining UW players, who ultimately will have a lot of reinforcements joining them, will grow to swear by him.

Most of all, they'll realize once more that Husky football is bigger than any one coach or player and, as a civic institution, it needs to be preserved, protected and celebrated at all times. Seattle, as a city, just doesn't seem whole when the UW football program is suffering.

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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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