DeBoer Reaches Out to Petersen to Reflect on 9 Months of Hard Work

The new coach spoke with an old one as the season opener approaches.

Kalen DeBoer has had precious little time to reflect on his nine months in Montlake, what with adding to the inherited roster, getting everyone in shape, convincing them to believe in what he's doing and making them forget all about that 4-8 season.

Yet on Monday, the 30th University of Washington football coach allowed himself a moment to send a text message to someone in the morning and address this milestone.

"That text message said, "It's gone really fast when you think about how much you've done in that time but it's been a little bit of a grind, too,' " DeBoer shared.

At his media briefing leading up to the Kent State opener, the new coach was asked on the very next question if he still kept in contact with former Husky coach Chris Petersen.

"Funny, you should ask," DeBoer said, acknowledging that Petersen was the one he was texting with to laughs.

The two coaches, separated by Jimmy Lake's brief UW regime, got to know each other during the subsequent coaching search. In his final days at Fresno State, DeBoer was on the phone asking questions of Petersent about the job and receiving his ready input, having similarly left Boise State for the UW in late 2013. 

At DeBoer's news conference last winter to announce his hiring, Petersen slipped in unnoticed to watch the proceedings, no doubt as a show of support for the new coach.

Noting their similarities in style and past successes, Husky fans are hoping that DeBoer resembles that other former Mountain West coach in comparable success.

There's still a lot of crossover, with 37 of the 114 players currently on the roster having played at one time for one or more of Petersen's UW teams. 

"He loves this program," DeBoer said. "He loves obviously the players he knows still, that he recruited, and there's still a high number of them on the team. He's a great source."  

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