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Where Would You Rank DeBoer Among Pac-12 Coaches?

Here's one list slotting each one. See if you agree with it.
Dan Raley|
Where Would You Rank DeBoer Among Pac-12 Coaches?
Where Would You Rank DeBoer Among Pac-12 Coaches?

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Washington Huskies

Kalen DeBoer has a top 25 recruiting class. An OC/quarterbacks coach and a wide-receivers coach drawing high praise. Seven of his 10 assistants receiving some sort of recognition. Increasing acceptance, it seems, from his fan base.

How do outsiders view DeBoer?

With a cautious approach — and probably rightfully so.

CBS Sports ranked the Pac-12 football coaches, both the guys in it for the long term and the short term, and it pegged the University of Washington's DeBoer seventh among his peers.

Middle of the pack, which actually seems fair until he makes a run through the conference.

Interesting enough, DeBoer is ranked lower than a pair of former Husky coordinators in the offensive-minded Jonathan Smith at Oregon State and California's defensive-leaning Justin Wilcox, who are slotted fifth and sixth, respectively, on this list.

While he comes highly recommended and has an extensive history of winning NAIA national championships, DeBoer has been an FBS head coach for just two seasons.

All of his Husky assistants have logged more FBS time in their supportive coaching roles than DeBoer has in his current assignment, his first head-coaching job at a Power 5 school.

Likely for that reason, DeBoer finds himself ranked ahead of Oregon's Dan Lanning, the former Georgia defensive coordinator who has been given the keys to the Ducks kingdom —  and never been a head coach before.

In their new Pac-12 assignments, no matter how much their fans praise and support them throughout the summer months, DeBoer and Lanning still have to prove themselves. 

When the bell rings in September, they need to start winning.

DeBoer actually has a team in one preseason Top 25 ranking — his old team. Fresno State, coming off a 10-3 season, holds down the 22nd slot in a recently released College Football Focus poll. The UW, trying to forget a 4-8 snag, is nowhere to be found.

The Huskies, and their new coach, simply have to show what they've got before any rewards roll in.

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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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