Inside The Huskies

Choate's Nevada Rebuild Has UW Threads Throughout

The former Husky DL coach nearly upset SMU in his debut.

Dan Raley

Nevada’s Jeff Choate coaches in his first game against SMU in Reno.
Nevada’s Jeff Choate coaches in his first game against SMU in Reno. / JASON BEAN/RGJ / USA TODAY NETWORK

While University of Washington football goes through an intensive rebuild this season, Nevada is dealing with the same situation under the direction of Jeff Choate, a former Husky defensive-line coach.

Choate, who coached in Montlake for Chris Petersen in 2014-15, made significant strides with his Mountain West team in his coaching debut last weekend before it ended in disappointment against heavily favored SMU.

As a 27.5-point underdog, his Wolf Pack led the visitors 24-13 late in the third quarter before losing 29-24 in Reno.

"I'm disappointed for our players," Choate said afterward. "They bought into what we're selling."

What Choate is dispensing is a Nevada program that has a tinge of Husky football running through it with multiple connections. Let us count the ways.

Choate's offensive coordinator is Matt Lubick, who served as UW co-offensive coordinator and receivers coach while in Seattle in 2017-18, and his defensive coordinator is Kane Ione, who was a defensive analyst for the Huskies, also in 2017-18.

Nevada's quarterbacks coach is David Gilbertson, son of Keith Gilbertson, the former Husky head coach (2003-04), offensive coordinator (1991, 2000-02) and offensive-line coach (1989-91, 1999-02).

Tevis Bartlett, former Husky edge rusher (2015-18) and an All-Pac-12 honorable-mention selection (2017), is a defensive analyst for Choate's coaching staff.

Player-wise, Choate picked up sophomore linebacker Austin Harnetiaux, who spent two seasons with Kalen DeBoer's UW program as a walk-on and appeared in three games. The 6-foot-3, 237-pounder is a second-unit player on the Nevada depth chart and picked up a tackle in his debut against SMU.

Also on the roster is Kasen Kinchen, a walk-on senior cornerback who spent two seasons at the UW (2020-21) and the last two at Washington State. He didn't play in the opener.

Finally, Choate has a pair of siblings on his team in freshman edge rusher Nehemiah Burleson and redshirt freshman wide receiver Nate Burleson II, who are the grandsons of former standout Husky safety Al Burleson, who was a 1975 team captain and Al-Pac-8 selection, had a CFL pro football career, and stills ownthe longest interception return for a TD in UW history at 93 yards against Washington State.

For the latest UW football and basketball news, go to si.com/college/washington

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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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