Inside The Huskies

An Unforgettable Day in the Coaching Life of Kalen DeBoer

The UW documents on video the hiring of a new football coach and his trip north.

Dan Raley

Kalen DeBoer on Sunday was the Fresno State football coach.

A day later, he was at 30,000 feet, riding in a private jet with his wife Nicole and kids Alexis and Avery. 

On Tuesday, DeBoer will be introduced at 11:30 a.m. by the University of Washington as its 30th head football coach in the Husky Stadium administrative offices, surrounded by school officials, fans and media members.

It's slightly incredible how a coach's life can change completely in two weeks, beginning with someone else's misfortune.

Saturday, November 6, will go down as a day of coaching infamy. It didn't treat anyone in this UW-Fresno State equation very well. 

In Seattle, Jimmy Lake set everything in motion when an FS1 TV camera caught the Husky coach streak down the sideline and swat at reserve linebacker Ruperake Fuavai on the sideline and then shove him.

In Fresno, 900 miles away, DeBoer dealt with a 40-14 blowout loss to Boise State, his last setback in this Mountain West job, before the home crowd that came from all over the San Joaquin Valley.

He bounced back from his weekend adversity better than Lake, who originally was suspended and finally dismissed after eight seasons on the UW football staff, the last two as the head coach.

DeBoer, however, demonstrated he could coach at a high level throughout the bulk of the season by directing the Bulldogs to nine wins in a dozen outings, five more than the disenfranchised Huskies up north. It was enough to make him a coveted coaching candidate. 

Traveling to California, UW athletic director Jen Cohen had here Monday documented with video, showing her landing in Fresno and then arriving at the DeBoer home.

Viewers were introduced to the family while Kalen sat and signed a coaching agreement.

Finally everyone was shown on board, looking happy but a little wide-eyed by all that was going on.

Someone tell the kids the private jet is used only for special occasions, such as this one. 

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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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