Inside The Huskies

Ex-UW QB Duane Akina Takes New Job at Texas

The one-time Warren Moon back-up is in his 46th season as a college football coach.

Dan Raley

Duane Akina, shown here in 2007, is back for a second coaching stint at Texas.
Duane Akina, shown here in 2007, is back for a second coaching stint at Texas. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

While the look of college football continues to change almost daily, Duane Akina remains part of the game that remains unshakable.

On Monday, the former University of Washington quarterback and one-time back-up for Warren Moon was hired by Texas as the secondary coach for Steve Sarkisian's staff, giving him some place to go for a 46th season.

The now grizzled Akina, who began his coaching career in 1979 as a UW grad assistant for Don James, is in his sixth decade working the sideline and turning boys into men..

For comparative purposes, Sarkisian was just a 5-year-old kid back when it all started for Akina the football teacher. A former Husky head coach himself, Sark turns 51 in a week and a half.

Akina, 68, spent last season as the Arizona defensive coordinator for Bob Brennan, who became the Wildcats coach once Jedd Fisch left for the UW.

Fisch and Akina actually coached together the year before in Tucson, with the old Husky quarterback serving as an analyst.

A native Hawaiian, Akina was part of James' original 1975 recruiting class, as was Moon, though the latter came staight from junior college.

Akina played behind Husky quarterbacks Chris Rowland, Cliff McBride and Moon initially, then got his one and only chance to become a starter as a senior in 1978.

He beat out Tom Flick and Tom Porras in fall camp, only to have knee and ankle injuries knock him out of the running.

He left the UW after throwing just 35 passes, completing 14 of them, for 137 yards with 3 interceptions but no touchdowns.

Akina, who also coached for Hawaii, Stanford and the CFL's Calgary Stampeders, now finds himself back in Texas for a second stint, after primarily working for Mack Brown during his earlier14-year stay in Austin.

The Longhorns have a staff full of former UW coaches in Sark, defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski and linebackers coach, co-DC Johnny Nansen -- and now Akina.

For the latest UW football and basketball news, go to si.com/college/washington

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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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