UW Coach Comparison: Kaufusi Does Work of Two Men for Husky Football Team

The former Utah edge rusher coaches all defensive linemen in Montlake.

Jason Kaufusi oversees the UW edge rushers and interior tackles. / Dan Raley

Last season, the University of Washington football team had an edge-rusher coach and a defensive-tackle coach on the payroll, giving each of those positions groups its own mastermind and confidante.

Jason Kaufusi handles both jobs now.

Previous Husky coach Kalen DeBoer preferred to have a specific leader for each of these defensive position groups, with the edges answering to Eric Schmidt and the tackles put through their paces by Inoke Breckterfield. Schmidt and Breckterfield have resurfaced at San Diego State. respectively leaving before and after the UW head-coaching change that sent DeBoer to Alabama,

These days, Kaufusi tirelessly handles all Husky D-line responsibilities, which enables new defensive coordinator Steve Belichick to spend more time overseeing the entire unit and frees Belichick from running the same daily practice drills and handling specific individual player development.

Kaufusi says he just keeps it simple while getting acquainted with all of the UW defenders inherited or acquired. A Salt Lake City product, he and Husky defensive lineman Voi Tunuufi no doubt have discovered they have much in common, with both having played for East High School in that Utah metropolis. though more than two decades apart.

"It's fundamentals, fundamentals, fundamentals, whether it's with your feet, striking with your hands, where are your eyes?" the multi-tasking Kaufusi said of his approach. "That's what I've been harping on them. Keep it simple, basics, don't get bored with the fundamentals."

Hailing from the same college football era, Kaufusi, Breckterfield and Schmidt each were highly accomplished players. As a senior at Oregon State, Breckterfield was named the 1999 Morris Trophy winner as the then-Pac-10's top defensive lineman and Schmidt became an All-America linebacker for a 2001 FCS national-champion North Dakota team.

A breakout player for Utah, Kaufusi received Mountain West co-freshman of the year honors in 2000 and became a first-team, all-conference selection in both 2001 and 2002 before an injury wiped out his senior season.

Kaufusi joined Fisch's staff in Arizona after previously coaching full-time for UCLA and Weber State. In comparing experience, he's in his seventh season as an FBS coach, which falls between Breckterfield, who has 13 years at that level for six schools, and Schmidt, who's been an FBS coach for five seasons and now serving as San Diego State's defensive coordinator.

Interestingly, Kaufusi joined Weber State in 2010, a year after Breckterfield left that same school, and both later coached at UCLA at different times, too.

At the UW, Kaufusi has learned a new defensive scheme from the Belichicks, working directly with Steve and taking advantage of the legendary Bill Belichick making a lengthy spring visit and sharing his coaching knowledge that made him a six-time Super Bowl-winning coach for the New England Patriots.

"It's a little intimidating," the defensive-line coach said of meeting the elder Belichick, "but at the same time it's confirming football is football and keep it simple."

Having Kaufusi oversee all of the defensive linemen, inside and out, is a different approach than any of the previous Husky coaching staffs over the previous decade headed up by Chris Petersen, Jimmy Lake and DeBoer, each of whom relied on two coaches to get the job done across the defensive front.

Whether this is an upgrade or downgrade with Kaufusi will depend entirely on the defensive results that emerge.

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