Inside The Huskies

DeBoer Celebrates Midseason Birthday, Hosts Players' Dinner

However, the two events were not supposed to be connected.

Dan Raley

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Kalen DeBoer smiled when a media member mentioned that the coach was celebrating his birthday on Monday and asked if he had any plans for it.

DeBoer mentioned that he was hosting a dinner for some of his players, who included captains, unity council members and assorted seniors, but as a team get-together not a birthday party.

The inquisitor made the University of Washington football leader laugh when he further suggested the coach was just 36 years old.

DeBoer explained how the break in the schedule with a bye week finally afforded him the opportunity to meet with some of his Huskies for a meal at his home, plus his family was all moved in now.

"That's it," he said. "It's all football. Football and family."

As for the age thing, DeBoer, who was born in Millbank, South Dakota, turned 48 this week.

 

As for being 36 and the Husky football coach, that's not all that far-fetched when you consider the history of football leaders at the school.

The UW hired Jim Owens when he was just 29 to take over the football program in 1957, and took great pains in all of its publicity releases to say he was 30. They didn't want fans to think he was too young for the job. 

Yet to this day, the late Owens remains the youngest Husky coach in program annals when was first employed by the school.

Another UW football coach on the younger side when hired was Steve Sarkisian, who was just 34 when he agreed to take the Husky job in 2008 and who left for USC before hitting 40.

Rick Neuheisel was just a coaching babe of 37 when he was hired to take over the UW program in 1998 and he made it to 42 when he was fired before the 2003 season.

The legendary and deceased Don James was 43 when he took over the Huskies in 1975 and he coached for nearly two decades until he was 60.

For that matter, Chris Petersen was 49 when he came to Montlake, while Jimmy Lake, Petersen's short-lived successor, was 42.

If DeBoer could ask for a present to commemorate his personal milestone, it would probably be to make No. 48 — linebacker Edefuan Ulofoshio — completely healthy again and available to play soon.

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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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