What’s next for Washington as Kalen DeBoer sets new standard for program with College Football Playoff run

Disappointment is high on the flights back to Seattle for a Washington program and fanbase that was along for the ride as a 21-game winning streak put the Huskies on the verge of a national championship. It hurts to see the season end the way it did in a 34-13 loss to Michigan in the College Football Playoff National Championship. The performance did not mirror the best of the Washington team we’ve seen this season, and it’s a tough pill to swallow realizing how close this veteran group had come to securing the sport’s highest honor. 

The work moving forward will be difficult with lots of roster turnover and a move to the Big Ten next year (the Huskies host the Wolverines in a regular-season rematch on Oct. 5). But this isn’t the first time Washington coach Kalen DeBoer has been faced with a crucial offseason, and given how things worked out over the last two years, his track record seems pretty good. 

DeBoer earned the job in December 2021, and he describes some of those first months as the foundation for a team that would would win 25 games and a Pac-12 title in his first two seasons on the job. The team he inherited had just gone 4-8 in an absolute stunner of a season for a program that had become the class of the Pac-12 under former coach Chris Petersen, who led the program to its only other CFP appearance in 2016. 

Players were hurting, and some weren’t even sure if they were going to stick around. DeBoer and staff asked for a chance, and those who stuck around developed into the foundation of a team that everyone described as “player-led.” Bonds were created during the winter months leading into spring ball, which set the tone for the run we’ve seen over the last two seasons. 

DeBoer excels with coaching challenges that relate…

Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/whats-next-for-washington-as-kalen-deboer-sets-new-standard-for-program-with-college-football-playoff-run/

Author : Chip Patterson

Publish date : 2024-01-09 19:35:06

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