DeBoer Will Find Fixing Husky Football Doesn't Happen Overnight

We examine the immediate success of the UW's nine coaching predecessors.

Dan Raley | Dec 6, 2021

At the introductory news conference, the new college football coach almost always is portrayed as a sporting savior. Someone who knows everything you need to know about winning. The solution to an uncomfortable situation.

Such was the case for Kalen DeBoer at the University of Washington last Tuesday, full of optimism as he explained himself to athletic-department staffers, fans and media types who had just witnessed a once well-regarded Husky team lose its final four games to finish 4-8.

It was hard for DeBoer not to be overly positive. He entered a fourth-floor football room inside Husky Stadium to a festive atmosphere, to the loud strains of the school fight song, to cheerleaders enthusiastically acknowledging his presence, to people eager to shake his hand and speak to him.

Asked how long it might take to fix things, DeBoer didn't hesitate when he said, "I don't want the guys who have a year left to think that this is a rebuild. This is not that. To me, this is about reloading at a place that has everything we need to be successful right now."

No one would expect him to say otherwise, especially when he's getting paid more than $3 million a season to make the alumni proud.

Yet the reality to a transfer of power such as this is that someone neglected the program changing ahnds and it needs to be repaired, and it's not going to happen overnight.

Consider DeBoer's nine coaching predecessors in Montlake. Each one needed at least a season or two to put things in order if they were able to do that at all. No one was left with a championship team.

Seven of these Husky coaches, including the widely respected Don James and Chris Petersen, lost five or more games his first time out. Only three of these sideline leaders won the first UW games they coached. Five of them ultimately got fired.

Still, DeBoer said what his new employers and his Husky supporters wanted to hear, which was that success wasn't far off, that everything seemed manageable, that anything was possible.

"I feel looking at the roster, it's just subtle things that you need to continue to do to upgrade and build depth," he said.

DeBoer opens with Portland State and Kent State, given the luxury of lower-level competition right off, which none of the previous UW football coaches enjoyed. Then it's on to a Husky Stadium visit by Big Ten powerhouse Michigan State and followed by nine Pac-12 games.

That's not to say that he can't turn the Huskies into an instant big winner, but history says otherwise. Dues-paying is part of the deal.

Following is how his each of the nine prior coaches fared at the outset of their coaching careers in Seattle. No one got off easy. Just one in three ultimately made big things happen.

UW COACHES' FIRST SEASONS

Jim Owens

The former Texas A&M assistant coach finished 3-6-1 in 1957 in the first of his 18 seasons at Washington. He opened with a 6-6 tie against Colorado. He won 3 of his last 5 games that season. Two years later, he coached the Huskies to a 10-1 season and the school's first Rose Bowl victory, 44-8 over Wisconsin.

Don James

Another 18-year UW coach, James guided the Huskies to a 6-5 first season in 1975. He lost his opener to Arizona State 35-12. He beat USC and UCLA late in that season. He won 4 of his last 5 games. In his third season, James took the Huskies to a 27-20 Rose Bowl victory over Michigan.

Jim Lambright

The promoted James defensive coordinator coached a team levied with conference sanctions, scholarship limitations and a bowl ban to a 7-4 record in his first season in 1993. He opened with a 31-14 victory over Stanford. In his second year, he beat Ohio State and ended Miami's 58-game home winning streak.

Rick Neuheisel

Taking over for the fired Lambright, Neuheisel directed the Huskies to a 7-6 record in 1999. He lost his first game to BYU 35-28. In his second season, his UW team rose up and won 11 of 12 games and beat Purdue and Drew Brees 34-24 in the Rose Bowl. He was gone after four seasons.

Keith Gilbertson

Accepting the reins after Neuheisel was fired, Gilbertson coached the Huskies to a 6-6 record in 2003. He lost his first game to Ohio State 28-9. He lasted just two seasons.

Tyrone Willingham

Replacing the dismissed Gilbertson, Willingham's first team limped home with a 2-9 record in 2005. He lost his opener to Air Force 20-17. He was out of a job after four seasons.

Steve Sarkisian

The former USC offensive coordinator directed the Huskies to a 5-7 record in his first season in 2009. He lost to LSU 31-23 in his first outing. He stayed five seasons in Seattle.

Chris Petersen

Coming into replace Sarkisian, Petersen directed the Huskies to an 8-6 record in 2014. He beat Hawaii 17-16 in his debut game. In his third season, he led the Huskies to a College Football Playoff appearance against Alabama and a 12-2 record. He stepped down after six seasons.

Jimmy Lake

Petersen's co-defensive coordinator took over and guided the Huskies to a 3-1 record in a season shortened by the pandemic. He picked up a 27-21 victory over Oregon State in his first game in charge in 2020. He got fired nine games into his second season.

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Published Dec 6, 2021

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.