In only his second year on the job, Washington Huskies head coach Kalen DeBoer has been named the AP coach of the year on Tuesday.
The Huskies went 13-0 in 2023, winning the PAC 12 championship and securing a place in the college football playoff in January. DeBoer took over a program that went 4-8 in 2021, and made an immediate impact on the field and campus alike. Washington has gone 23-2 during his time at the school, and has since secured several high profile transfers as a result.
“It’s all about the people around me. This is a team award,” DeBoer said. “When you win, I tell the players this, you win football games, you’re going to get recognized and more awards are going to get shared. I’m fortunate enough to kind of be the figurehead of our team and receive these cool awards. Just really blessed.”
The 49 year old was the runaway winner of this year’s award, earning 113 points and 30 out of a possible 52 first place votes by the committee. That easily outpaced Florida State’s Mike Norvell’s 57 points, and Missouri’s Eli Drinkwitz’s 38. The award is also the first for head football coach in University of Washington history.
“We’ve gotten here because he’s carried through with everything he said he was going to do with all his effort,” WR Rome Odunze said.
In addition to the AP Coach of the Year award, DeBoer has also taken home distinctions from Home Depot and The Sporting News as well. Washington is set to take on Texas at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on January 1st in the College Football semi-final.
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