Searching for Jen Cohen Replacement, Start with These 3

We have two with past UW connections, another with a DeBoer relationship.

Now that Jen Cohen has traded in her purple wardrobe for something a little more crimson, job applicants most likely will form a long line around Montlake while seeking the University of Washington athletic directorship.

The person who lands it, while monitoring a bevy of men's and women's sports, will be asked to perform one main function:

Make sure no one entices Husky football coach Kalen DeBoer to leave town — and this includes Michigan, once it tires of Jim Harbaugh and probably fires him in the none- too-distant future — until a decade or so goes past.

DeBoer is one of college football's hottest coaching properties. Those who look closely at his brief time at the UW will note how he gets things done in a hurry, hires well in surrounding himself with highly capable coaches, is not afraid to suspend even a high-profile running back for some offense others might consider trivial and, wait for it, he wins big.

Former Husky AD Mike Lude understood how important it was to keep his football coach happy, but he's unavailable, having just turned 101 last month.

While it is early yet, three names come to mind who might be able to pull this off — Chris Petersen, Gary Barta and Terry Tunney.

Once Cohen's job change began to circulate, the first name that came up as a possible replacement was Petersen, 58, the former Husky football coach (2014-19). He's well organized, deeply respected in the college ranks and he and DeBoer seemed to hit it off when they met during the UW's brief courtship of the current football coach.

However, the last person to take this job likely will be Petersen, who seemed to have a mid-life crisis and quit coaching four years because of it. He appears to really like being on different boards, college football shows or relaxing on his dock, doing a hodgepodge of things, rather than having to balance a budget, kowtow to donors again and keep a regular schedule.

Next up is Barta, who retired a month ago after 17 years at Iowa but comes with considerable baggage. On his watch, the school had to pay out $11 million in racial and sexual harassment cases, and now has football players in trouble over gambling issues.

However, he made sure Iowa remained a player in both Big Ten football and basketball during his lengthy run, plus he has a UW background.

Barta, 59, was a senior associate athletic director for Barbara Hedges' staff in 1996-2003, getting out after Rick Neuheisel's firing and before Husky football went up in flames.

Finally, we come to Tumey, currently the Fresno State athletic director. He hired DeBoer to become the Bulldogs coach. He also lost DeBoer to UW, which shouldn't be a strike against him, since it was to a Power 5 school.

Tumey, 57, is a former UCLA defensive tackle (1984-87), who played briefly for the NFL's Denver Broncos and is so highly thought of as an administrator that Fresno State just gave him a two-year extension.

Hire him and he probably would do anything and everything to keep DeBoer happy now that he would have the resources of that partial Big Ten share.

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