Kalen DeBoer did a remarkable job in a short time at Washington. He took over a reeling program that went 4-8 in 2021, and in his debut season the Huskies went 11-2 and finished in the top 10. In 2023, he led Washington to the Pac-12 title and the national championship game, finishing 14-1 and ranked No. 2.
It has shocked some that he is leaving to go to the SEC to take on the task of replacing Nick Saban at Alabama, and DeBoer leaves behind a big job in Seattle, with the Huskies preparing to make the transition to the Big Ten. Not only will they be trying to replace star quarterback Michael Penix Jr., but now they are replacing the coach who resurrected the program.
Washington will be on its fourth head coach since 2019, going from Chris Petersen to Jimmy Lake to DeBoer to whomever new athletic director Troy Dannen tabs. The promotion of Lake, which seemed promising a few years ago, proved disastrous. Will that make the Huskies reluctant to promote a strong internal candidate like they have in offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb? Will they prefer a sitting head coach? It’ll be an interesting search.
One other factor that could complicate this job is the Michigan situation with Jim Harbaugh. If he jumps to the NFL, there could be some overlap with the candidate pool if the Wolverines don’t stay in-house by promoting offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore.
As for the Huskies’ coaching search …
A DeBoer protege, 48-year-old Washington offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb spent five seasons in the Mountain West at Fresno State before following his mentor to Seattle, where he helped create the most explosive offense in college football. Last winter, he turned down Saban’s offer to be the Alabama offensive coordinator. Washington hiring Grubb would offer some continuity for a program already in flux as it makes the transition to the Big Ten while losing DeBoer, Penix and a bunch of other key players from the Playoff team.
If Dannen does have an open search, I expect he will give strong consideration to Arizona head coach Jedd Fisch, who is the one guy in the Pac-12 who might’ve done as good a job as DeBoer has in revitalizing a dismal situation. Fisch took over a program riding a 12-game losing streak when he arrived in Tucson in 2021. This past season, he led Arizona to a 10-3 record and No. 11 ranking — the school’s best finish in 25 years. He’s hit all the right notes from the moment he showed up there. Fisch would make a lot of sense for the Huskies on a bunch of levels. He proved in Tucson to be a shrewd talent evaluator and offensive mind. He’s worked in Seattle from his time on Pete Carroll’s Seahawks staff, and he has also worked in the Big Ten on Jim Harbaugh’s Michigan staff. Arizona wants to do a new contract with Fisch, according to people familiar with talks there, but nothing has been finalized or finished on that front.
Kansas head coach Lance Leipold has worked wonders in Lawrence. Like DeBoer, Leipold has small school roots and has won everywhere he’s been. He won six Division III national titles at Wisconsin-Whitewater. He led Buffalo, one of the toughest FBS jobs, into the Top 25. And he resurrected the worst Power 5 program at Kansas. The Jayhawks went from 2-10 to 6-7 to 9-4 and a No. 23 final ranking, beating Oklahoma for the first time in a generation. The 59-year-old knows how to build a culture, play physical football and do much more with less. Kansas hadn’t won more than three games in the 12 seasons before Leipold arrived. If he’s still in Lawrence at the end of this cycle, Kansas would be among the biggest winners of the coaching carousel.
Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman also came from winning big in the lower divisions of football. He won four FCS titles at North Dakota State. Klieman, now 56, led K-State to the Big 12 title in 2022, going 10-4. This past year, the Wildcats went 9-4 for their second consecutive top-20 finish. He has a good situation at K-State under an AD he worked with previously, but the chance to jump to the Big Ten with better resources would probably be tempting.
Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell grew up in the Big Ten footprint in Ohio and has been on athletic directors’ radars for a long time. He’s only 44 but has already won 88 college games as a head coach. In 2020, he led the Cyclones to the best season in school history when they finished No. 9 and won the Fiesta Bowl. He’s found and developed a lot of NFL talent and done a very good job at a tough place to sustain success.
Former Auburn head coach Bryan Harsin used to be the head coach at Boise State, like his old mentor Chris Petersen. The 47-year-old had a rough time in the SEC, but he’s a very good offensive coach who went 69-19 at Boise State. An Idaho native, Harsin knows the Pacific Northwest well. He did prove to be a bad fit at an awkward time around Auburn, but it was a situation that few coaches could’ve thrived in. He went 9-12 before being forced out in less than two seasons. I suspect he will get another FBS head coaching job before too long, but this one might be a long shot.
GO DEEPER
UW football coaching job pluses, minuses and candidates after Kalen DeBoer
(Top photo of Ryan Grubb: Steph Chambers / Getty Images)
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