Washington hires Fresno State’s Kalen DeBoer as next football coach
The Washington Huskies have hired their next football coach.
Following two seasons leading Fresno State, Kalen DeBoer is headed to Seattle, the university announced Monday afternoon.
“I could not be more excited to welcome Kalen and his wonderful family to the University of Washington,” UW athletic director Jen Cohen said in a statement. “We set out to find the best fit for Husky football and we found an individual that exemplifies everything this program represents. Kalen is a winner and champion, plain and simple. He has succeeded at every stop because he does it the right way and is committed to a culture of excellence for Husky football student-athletes. His strong value alignment with our department, university and community will make all of Husky Nation proud.”
DeBoer, 47, will be the 30th head coach in UW’s program history.
“My family and I are so grateful for the opportunity to lead such a storied program and be part of this prestigious institution,” he said in a statement. “The tough, hard-nosed tradition of Washington football speaks for itself, and it was obvious throughout this process that UW is committed to competing at the highest level. This is a perfect fit for me and I would like to thank Jen Cohen and President (Ana Mari) Cauce for their trust. We could not be more excited to get to Seattle and get to work.”
DeBoer’s name had been circulating as a possible Power Five coaching target given his recent success at Fresno State, the reputation he built as an offensive coordinator for the Bulldogs, Indiana, Eastern Michigan and Southern Illinois in past seasons, and in leading Sioux Falls to three NAIA championships.
In two seasons as Fresno State’s head coach, DeBoer guided the Bulldogs to a 12-6 record, including leading them to a 9-3 finish in the regular season this fall.
The program picked up a pair of wins over top-25 programs, including a victory over UCLA in September in Pasadena, when the Bruins were ranked No. 13. The Bulldogs also topped Mountain West rival San Diego State, then No. 21, in October.
The Bulldogs nearly added another signature win over then-No. 11 Oregon in Eugene back in September before the Ducks rallied for the game-winning touchdown in the closing minutes of their season-opener. The Bulldogs’ only other regular season losses this fall were to Hawai’i on the road and Boise State.
Fresno State finished second in the West Division of the Mountain West behind San Diego State.
With DeBoer leading the program, the Bulldogs’ offense also ranked among the best in the FBS in several categories.
Through 12 games, Fresno State put up 33.6 points per game (second in Mountain West, 28th in FBS), 463.6 total yards per game (first in Mountain West, 14th in FBS) and 6.36 yards per play (first in Mountain West, tied-31st in FBS).
Many of Fresno State’s offensive totals outpaced Pac-12 teams, including a Huskies offense that often struggled to produce.
UW averaged 21.5 points per game (tied-106th in FBS), 323.4 yards per game (114th in FBS) and 4.98 yards per play (tied-113th in FBS).
While Fresno State averaged 330.1 yards per game passing (second in Mountain West, ninth in FBS), the Huskies averaged 225 (tied-72nd FBS). The Bulldogs rushed more efficiently, too, with 133.5 yards per game (seventh in Mountain West, 93rd in FBS) to UW’s 98.4 (124th FBS).
Meanwhile, former Huskies quarterback Jake Haener, who transferred to Fresno State in 2019, posted breakout numbers (303-of-449 passing for 3,810 yards, 32 TDs, nine INTs) in his second season as the program’s starter, ranking eighth among FBS quarterbacks in passing yards per game (317.5), tied-10th in passing touchdowns, 15th in passing efficiency (158.3) and 21st in completion percentage (67.5). He led the Mountain West in passing efficiency and was the runner-up in each of the other categories.
Fresno State finished 3-3 during the shortened 2020 season in DeBoer’s first year as the program’s head coach.
Prior to entering the Division I ranks, DeBoer, who was an All-American wide receiver during his career at Sioux Falls in South Dakota from 1993-96, spent 11 seasons coaching at his former school.
After spending six seasons as an assistant — including one season in 1997 as the Cougars’ wide receiver coach and five from 2000-04 as their offensive coordinator — DeBoer took over as Sioux Falls’ head coach following the 2004 season.
In the five seasons that followed, he guided Sioux Falls to a 67-3 overall record, four NAIA championship game appearances and three wins in 2006, 2008 and 2009. He was also named the NAIA Football Coach of the Year each of those title-winning seasons after leading the Cougars to undefeated finishes.
They also went 49-1 in Great Plains Athletic Conference play in DeBoer’s five seasons, including finishing a perfect 40-0 and winning the conference title each of his final four.
DeBoer also previously coached as the offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach at Southern Illinois (2010-13), offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Eastern Michigan (2014-16), offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Fresno State (in his first stint from 2017-18) and the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Indiana (2019).
DeBoer was born in Milbank, S.D. and attended Milbank High School prior to Sioux Falls.
The announcement of DeBoer’s hire comes not long after two other Pac-12 schools filled their open coaching jobs over the weekend.
USC announced Sunday afternoon the program was bringing in Oklahoma’s Lincoln Riley, who guided the Sooners, currently ranked No. 13, to a 10-2 regular season record this fall and built a 55-10 record with the Big 12 program the past five seasons. USC fired former coach Clay Helton back in September.
Following the program’s first Apple Cup win since 2012, WSU announced late Saturday it had elevated interim coach Jake Dickert to fill the head coaching opening left by Nick Rolovich, who was dismissed in October after failing to meet the COVID-19 vaccine mandate set by the state.
The other nine Pac-12 coaches currently remain at their respective schools.
UW, though, had been searching for its next coach since parting ways with Jimmy Lake two weeks ago.
Lake’s tenure as the Huskies’ head coach abruptly after 13 games, during which UW finished 7-6.
Returning much of the group that finished 3-1 during the four-game 2020 season, the Huskies were projected to be a Pac-12 North contender this fall, and opened ranked No. 21 in the Associated Press preseason poll, but their season didn’t play out that way.
They lost to Montana — the program’s first ever loss to an FCS school — in their season-opener, and were routed by Michigan in Ann Arbor the following week.
Their only wins with Lake on the sideline this season were against Arkansas State, California, Arizona and Stanford, none of which had a winning record, and were a combined 8-30 at that point.
UW also lost three conference games during the nine games Lake coached this season against Oregon State, UCLA and Oregon.
The loss to the Ducks was the final game Lake coached. He was suspended for one game following a sideline incident during that contest and departed less than a week later.
Following the announcement of Lake’s dismissal, Cohen said during a video conference with reporters there was “no one factor” that led to the decision.
“It was a multitude of things,” she said. “As I do with all of our head coaches, I evaluate our programs holistically. We look at everything to on the field play and results, to the student athlete experience, the student athlete welfare, recruiting, leadership, plans for success, staffing and many other factors. Ultimately, I came to the conclusion that we needed a change in leadership for our football program.
“I recognize that terminating a coach after 13 games is unusual, and quite frankly, it certainly goes against my belief as an administrator. However, when I know something is not working or something just isn’t right, I do have an obligation to act. I hired Coach Lake in 2019 full of confidence and had high expectations and did everything that I could to help him be successful. I’m really disappointed, and I’m sad to be here today in his second season.”
Defensive coordinator Bob Gregory acted as the Huskies’ interim coach for their remaining three regular season games, during which they lost to Arizona State, Colorado and rival Washington State in the Apple Cup in their final game.
UW now looks to DeBoer to return its program — which finished short of a winning record this fall for the first time in more than a decade — to Pac-12 contention and beyond.
The Huskies ended their season last week at 4-8 — their worst finish since the winless 2008 season — and short of bowl game eligibility for the first time since 2009.
This story was originally published November 29, 2021 at 2:39 PM.
