Inside The Huskies

DeBoer Draws Network Nod for UW Season-Opening Win

College football TV commentator Kirk Herbsteit lumps the Husky coach among his top Week 1 leaders.

Dan Raley

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Word on the street, at least from Kirk Herbstreit, is that Kalen Deboer did well in his University of Washington football coaching debut. 

Herbstreit, the consummate ESPN and ABC college football commentator and former Ohio State quarterback, listed the new Husky leader fifth among his six top performing coaches nationwide from Week 1.

In this grouping, DeBoer trailed Florida coach Billy Napier, Georgia coach Kirby Smart, Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles and Duke coach Mike Elko, while ranking a notch above Old Dominion coach Ricky Rahne.

Through the years, Herbstreit, always has had a soft spot for UW football, even just three weeks ago tweeting out the following message:

"Man do I miss these boys bein a consistent powerhouse out west…there was a time when they were a perennial power!! Here’s to @KalenDeBoer gettin those DAWGS goin!! Filthy uni’s back in the day too.. @napoleonkaufman @LawyerMilloy know what I’m talkin about! Scary teams!"

DeBoer was singled out for guiding the Huskies to a 45-20 victory over Kent State in their season opener, with the UW generating 525 yards of total offense.

Of the other coaches, Napier, in his Florida coaching debut, directed the Gators to a thrilling 29-26 win over Utah, with the winning points coming with 1:24 left to play.

Smart, coach of the defending national champions, seamlessly had his Georgia football team take apart Oregon and his former defensive coordinator Dan Lanning with a 49-3 beatdown.

Knowles, Ohio State's new defensive coordinator after leaving Oklahoma State, had the Buckeyes put the clamps on Notre Dame's offense in their 21-10 victory. The Irish averaged just 2.5 yards per rush.

Elko, Duke's new coach after serving as Texas A&M defensive coordinator, beat Temple 30-0 in his debut, providing the first Blue Devils shutout in 33 seasons.

Old Dominion's Rahne, in his third year and second season (because of the pandemic) as coach, led the Monarchs to a stirring 20-17 upset of Virginia Tech.

One game in, and people are paying attention to DeBoer and the UW.

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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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