Inside The Huskies

DeBoer Receives National Coach of the Year Award on ESPN Show

Fellow UW coach breaks the news to him in funny moment.

Dan Raley

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While receiver Rome Odunze didn't win the Biletnikoff Award and quarterback Michael Penix Jr. might not return to the Northwest with the Heisman Trophy, Kalen DeBoer provided the Washington football program with a national accolade when he was given the Home Depot Coach of the Year honor during the ESPN College Football Awards Show.

On Friday, the second-year Husky coach learned about this in a humorous exchange with co-defensive coordinator Chuck Morrell, who's been his long-time friend, teammate and coaching compatriot.

Out recruiting in some place sunny, Morrell asked DeBoer if his wife ever sent him to Home Depot and whether or not he could fix a faucet?

"You don't seem like that handy of a guy to me," Morrell said, setting him up.

The defensive coach went on to say that he knew DeBoer was too busy building the Huskies into one of the nation's top teams while slipping in the fact he'd been named coach of the year. In the background, one could hear the unmistakable cackle of UW receivers coach JaMarcus Shephard and others sharing in the moment.

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DeBoer later made an appearance on the ESPN show through a Zoom call and said he was honored to be singled out.

On the job for just 24 months, the Husky coach has impressed the rest of the college football landscape by guiding the UW to a 13-0 record, a Pac-12 championship, a College Football Playoff berth against Texas in the Sugar Bowl and a 20-game winning streak. 

In his two seasons, DeBoer is 24-2, including beating Northwest rival Oregon three times, and 103-11 in his overall coaching career at three schools. And he probably still can't fix a faucet.

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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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