Inside The Huskies

DeBoer's Debut Was Capped Off with Unexpected Game Ball

The behind-the-scenes Husky moment was emotional for all involved.

Dan Raley

University of Washington football players weren't sure who this Kalen DeBoer was initially after he was hired. Some guys left, others thought about it, but most of them decided to stick around, give the coach a chance and see how he would put things back together.

Late Saturday night, the Huskies showed their appreciation to this new football leader of theirs by handing him the game ball following a season-opening 45-20 victory over Kent State at Husky Stadium.

It was an emotional moment for all involved in the locker room, away from the fans and the media, in particular for senior safety and team captain Alex Cook, who did the honors, and DeBoer, who clearly was appreciative of the gesture.

"All the operations stuff are because of this man," Cook told his teammates. "Like everything has been crisp, tight. Our operations have been second to none. We couldn't have gotten there without Coach DeBoer."

Officially, the DeBoer coaching era in Montlake was in play.

Victorious. Humble. Grateful.

Like a lot of coaches these days, the South Dakota native had preached about being 1-0 and his Huskies were just that, now heading into Week 2 against Portland State.

"This is only the beginning, right?" DeBoer said, always keeping things in perspective. "This is a journey that we're on. There's going to be a lot of highs, like tonight, and there's going to be things like adversity, right?"

A hands-on coach, DeBoer shared in the pre-game Dawg Walk on Saturday with his players inside the stadium, something the previous coaching staff preferred to let the players handle by themselves.

Thirty minutes before kickoff, with the Huskies warming up all around him, DeBoer stood on the field with two young guys, presumably a pair of visiting recruits, sharing the environment with them. 

Shortly before the game began, the new Husky coach allowed himself a moment to soak in this next stage of his professional career by looking all around at his surroundings. Then it was time to go to work. 

Three hours later, DeBoer was in the locker room being honored by his team with that ceremonial game ball. 

When he was hired, some might have suggested that DeBoer was too conservative for the Power 5 player who might need a coach with a few more theatrics about him. A Lincoln Riley. A Brian Kelly. A Brent Venables.

However, Cook, when asked about his new coach during the spring, spoke about how under control DeBoer was, that he didn't swear in practice. Offensive guard Nate Kalepo told how DeBoer had Chris Petersen morals, something he preferred. 

No, DeBoer has been a good fit for this roster of players, many of them now on their third Husky head coach, all of them simply asking for genuine leadership. 

"There's just great relationships being built right now; there's great trust," DeBoer said of his opening success. "It's something none of us take for granted."

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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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