UW Line Coach Scott Huff Talks About Being the Lone Survivor
Practically every interview with a University of Washington football coach these days is an introduction. Media members don't know him and he doesn't know them.
Scott Huff is the exception, the familiar face. He's the lone survivor.
In the Hollywood movie of the same name, portrayed in Afghanistan and actually filmed in the barren New Mexico landscape, Huff is the Mark Wahlberg character who accompanies a team of American soldiers on a perilous mission but only he emerges unscathed.
Huff is all that's standing from Jimmy Lake's Husky staff of 11 coaches following last season's 4-8 drop-off and ensuing purge that cost everyone else their jobs or sent them elsewhere for work.
"Yes, I would definitely say it's unusual," Huff said this week. "My whole career I've been very fortunate. I've had a ton of stability in it."
For starters, he's always known the guys he's worked with from the outset. He got started coaching at his alma mater, Boise State, by joining Chris Petersen's first staff in 2006, which was home.
This former Broncos center, 40-game starter and All-WAC selection chose to stay in the comfort of Boise when Petersen left and was hired at the UW in December 2013.
Huff went to work for Bryan Harsin, his former Boise State teammate and now the head coach at Auburn. Harsin brought in assistant coaches he already knew.
In 2017, Huff finally made the move to the UW to rejoin Petersen. Again, he was well acquainted with much of the staff, which had a lot of Boise State crossover.
Huff previously met Kalen DeBoer through the coaching ranks though they hadn't worked on a staff together, with that connection keeping him in Seattle. He still had to introduce himself to the other guys, much like the media members did. He's settled in now.
"It's been good," Huff said. "These guys are really good coaches, really good men and we've got really good players. It's a really fun time."
To be sure, Huff's offensive line underperformed last season. Yet it's hard to tell how much of the drop-off happened because of an offense that simply didn't work or nagging injuries that slowed starters such as Jaxson Kirkland and Ulumoo Ale, the latter now a defensive lineman, or to players carrying too much weight.
Since DeBoer took over, the Huskies have abandoned a run-first offense for a wide-open spread attack, promising to take the pressure off of the linemen and put them in a better position to succeed. They've trimmed weight off nearly everyone. They've got players healthy, even though Kirkland remains idle awaiting an NCAA decision on whether he can play a sixth season.
The new staff continues to shuffle players around up front, moving Vic Curne from tackle to guard and Julius Buelow from guard to tackle.
Huff shares personnel input with his new coaching peers, looking for a combination that will work much better this coming season. Spring is a time to experiment on different groupings.
"After every practice, we go back and evaluate it," Huff said. "The goal is to get the best five guys out there. They all do need to play together. It's watching the tape and putting it on there, and making sure you're covering it in the meetings, so when [the players] get out there they feel they have a chance to compete."
Likewise, Huff has been not unlike a new player coming in to the UW, having to prove himself all over again. He's working on that.
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