2022 Football Preview - OFFENSE

BOB SHERWIN • FOR GO HUSKIES MAGAZINE

It’s difficult to imagine any first-year college football coach with more challenges than University of Washington’s Kalen DeBoer. He didn’t come through the system, so the former Fresno State head coach takes over a roster in which he hasn’t seen even one player perform in a game-day Husky uniform.

His entire coaching staff — with the lone exception of sixth-year UW offensive line coach Scott Huff — has not seen any player perform in real time. Graduation and the NFL draft have taken some talent away, so has the NCAA transfer portal, a form of free agency that started in October 2017 to facilitate movement of players to different programs around the country.

DeBoer has used that same portal to add depth and bring in players for positions of need. But again, he won’t know how well they will fit in and perform for the Huskies until the season opener Sept. 3 against Kent State.

“Then there’s NIL,” DeBoer said. Yeah, that. Every coach and athletic director across America is still trying to measure the impact of NIL (name, image, likeness). As of July 1 last year, the NCAA allowed all athletes in all sports to monetize their name through NIL and share in the $19 billion industry. Student-athletes already have generated four- and five-figure incomes (or more) from NIL and some continue the search, through the portal, for better deals. It puts every program’s personnel stability in question every year.

Then wham. On July 1 this year there was a seismic shift that will mean the end of the 63-yearold Pac-12 Conference as we know it. Longtime West Coast powers USC and UCLA announced they were leaving for the Big 10 in 2024.

The conference will be losing its biggest TV market, leaving 10 schools to figure it out. If schools such as Washington and Oregon, the two remaining most powerful programs, stay status quo, what would that mean for revenue, prestige, and competitiveness? No doubt, a change for all. The Huskies athletic powers are trying to position themselves for the future while DeBoer and his coaches need to assure their recruits they will be playing at the highest level possible.

Life is full of uncertainties and DeBoer seems to have more every time he turns around.

“Every job, in and out of athletics, has things that you can’t control.” DeBoer said. “All you can do is focus on what you can control every single day, bringing your best attitude and effort and surround yourself with great people is where it starts.”

We know where DeBoer started when he took the job on Nov. 29, 2021 — after second-year head coach Jimmy Lake was fired. His top priority has been the program’s running game. UW has had a grand tradition of running backs, from the recently deceased Hugh McElhenny to Napoleon Kaufman to Corey Dillon to Chris Polk.

But last season the running game collapsed with just 1,181 yards gained (compared to 2,323 for Washington’s opponents). Departed Sean McGrew was the leading rusher with just 451 yards.

“Running back was probably the biggest question,” DeBoer said. “I don’t know if it’s a concern or not yet, honestly.”

He doesn’t know because just one RB, Aaron Dumas, a transfer from New Mexico, was the only one of seven running back candidates healthy and active during spring practice. Three returning UW backs — Richard Newton, Cameron Davis and Sam Adams — had holdover injuries to prevent participation. Two transfers, Wayne Taulapapa, a team captain at Virginia, and Will Nixon from Nebraska, were not in the program until the fall. Another scholarship back, freshman Jay’Veon Sunday, has an uphill fight for playing time on an enhanced depth chart.

“I feel really good about the possibilities that position could be,” DeBoer said, “even though it has the most questions in my mind.” The one who emerges likely will be the one most versatile — able to also receive and block well — that DeBoer’s spread offense requires.

Running back was such a concern that DeBoer held one scholarship designated for the wide receiver corps so he could add another runner. The wide receiver corps is thin, but he added, "I’m excited with what we have.”

The three primary receivers are sophomore Jalen McMillan, sophomore Rome Odurze and redshirt freshman Ja’Lynn Polk, a former transfer from Texas Tech who missed most of UW’s season a year ago because of an injury. Odurze and McMillan ranked 1-2 among Husky receivers last season, combining for 80 catches for 885 yards and seven touchdowns.

In DeBoer’s wide-open style of play, the forward pass will be going to anyone open. And the bulk of the attempts might be toward 6-foot-4, 244-pound junior tight end Devin Culp. He hopes to fill the shoes of former Husky tight end Cade Otton, who has his own challenge in the pros trying to replace retired stellar Tampa Bay tight end Rob Gronkowski. Culp collected 20 catches last season for 220 yards.

“We have different styles of (tight ends),” DeBoer said. “Culp and (junior) Jack Westover are veterans and we have other guys to bring us depth.”

He said even true freshman Ryan Otton, Cade’s younger brother, is a viable player in the tight end rotation.

“I think so,” DeBoer said. “He has to be ready. Hopefully, he can come along quickly and give us some help there.”

OK, we’ve buried the lede as long as we can. What everyone wants to know is who will be handing off and throwing to these fellows. Starting quarterback for the Huskies will be one of three players: redshirt freshman Sam Huard, son of former UW standout QB Damon Huard; sophomore Dylan Morris who played 11 games for the Huskies last season; and junior Michael Penix, Jr., a transfer from Indiana, where he played under then-Hoosier assistant coach DeBoer.

Morris and Penix are experienced. Morris threw for 2,458 yards and 14 touchdowns. In four years at Indiana, Penix threw for 4,197 yards and 29 touchdowns. He was a team captain the past two seasons. Penix appears to have the experience edge.

“You have two guys who have taken a lot of college football snaps,” DeBoer said. “Then you have Sam, who should be the one and is the one taking the most steps each day. What’s his ceiling and how quickly will he get to that ceiling? I’m very excited about all three.

“They all have respect for each other,” he added. “They understand the nature of the competition, but we’re still team first.”

DeBoer expects the leading candidate should emerge within the first two weeks of fall camp and will then load him up with all the schemes in preparation for Kent State.

When DeBoer was hired last fall, he talked about how he wanted his offense to be “Explosive. Big chunks of yardage at a time. … It’s hard to put a lot of points on the board when you are picking up just five yards at a time.”

An average of a first down every other play, apparently, is not sufficient for the Huskies head coach. This is where the offensive line, an experienced bunch, holds the key, providing enough protection for plays to develop, opening holes and executing pancake blocks.

If there’s one position a coaching staff wants the most experience, it might be the O-line. The Huskies have that, led by Jaxson Kirkland, 6-7, 310-pounds, who declared for the NFL draft but came back for a sixth season. His longtime line anchor is Henry Bainivalu, a 6-7, 330-pound senior.

Among the other big men filling it up across the line are senior Corey Luciano, 6-4, 291, juniors Victor Curne, 6-4, 320, Matteo Mele, 6-6, 295, Julius Buelow, 6-8, 319, and sophomores Troy Fantanu, 6-4, 307 and Nate Kalepo, 6-6, 330.

“We’re 10 guys deep right now. They’re chomping at the bit to get started,” DeBoer said.

The problem is all these linemen were part of last season’s 4-8 team. The O-line was projected to be the team’s strength yet underperformed. Now a new head coach — many of the players’ third in three seasons — has a new set of eyes on them. As he does on everyone else.