University of Washington

Success has come consistently and quickly at every stop in the career of Washington football coach Kalen DeBoer. On Nov. 29, 2021, DeBoer took his next step, when he was named the 30th head football coach in UW history. His first season was an undisputed success.
 
DeBoer, 48, came to Montlake from Fresno State, where during the 2021 season, he led the Bulldogs to a 9-3 regular-season record in his second year in charge.
 
In his first year at UW, he led the Huskies to a, 11-2 overall record, including a 3-0 mark against ranked teams, and a win over Texas in the Valero Alamo Bowl. His Huskies swept its three Northwest rivals, finished in a tie for second in the Pac-12, and he was named Pac-12 Co-Coach of the Year. He was also the Associated Press Pac-12 Coach of the Year and, at the 88th annual Seattle Sports Star of the Year Awards in Feb., 2023, earned the inaugural Seattle Sports Leader of the Year Award.

Not only were 11 wins in 2022 three more than any first-year head coach in UW history had ever compiled, DeBoer was the first UW football coach ever to win a bowl game in his first season.
 
Over his eight seasons as a head football coach (through 2022), DeBoer has compiled a 90-11 (.882) record. During his 26 years in coaching, he has consistently prospered at multiple levels and in different roles, helping to build and revitalize programs while establishing a diverse network of contacts, in both coaching and recruiting, across the country.
 
In two years at Fresno State, which included the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, DeBoer’s teams made great strides on both sides of the ball.
 
In 2021, Fresno State finished first in the MWC and 14th in the nation in total offense (464.8 yards per game) and second in the conference and 26th in FBS in scoring (30.5 points per game). The Bulldogs’ passing offense ranked second in conference and ninth in the country, with 326.7 yards per game.
 
The offense, and passing game in particular, also flourished in 2020, as it produced a conference-best 479.3 yards total offense per game, and the league’s second-highest points per game total (32.8). Fresno State also led the Mountain West in passing yards per game, and ranked fifth in the FBS in that category, with 356.3 per game.
 
In DeBoer’s two seasons in Fresno, the defense also made vast improvements in nearly every team defensive category over the 2019 season, the year before his arrival.
 
The Bulldogs’ defense went from 82nd in the national in scoring defense and 88th in total defense in 2019, to No. 20 and No. 31 in the FBS in 2021, respectively – improvements of 62 and 57 places. In terms of NCAA-FBS national ranking, the run defense improved from 71st to 24th while the pass defense leapt from 107th to 58th. Fresno State also improved its national ranking by 45 or more places in yards allowed per play, opponent first downs, sacks, TFLs, third-down percentage defense, and fourth-down percentage defense.
 
In 2021, Fresno State ranked among the top 25 in the nation in scoring defense, tackles for loss, takeaways, fumble recoveries, third-down conversion defense, and fourth-down conversion defense.
 
Immediately prior to leading Fresno State’s program, DeBoer was on staff at Indiana University, as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. After helping to guide the Hoosiers to an 8-5 record and a berth in the Gator Bowl, DeBoer returned to Fresno State, taking over for Jeff Tedford, who resigned for health reasons following the 2019 season.
 
The Hoosiers’ eight victories in 2019 matched their highest wins total in 26 seasons, and IU ranked No. 3 in the Big Ten in total offense.
 
In 2017, Tedford, in his first season as head coach at Fresno State, hired DeBoer as his offensive coordinator and QBs coach. In two seasons in that role, DeBoer helped the Bulldogs to overall records of 10-4 (2017) and 12-2 (2018), along with two division titles, two bowl game victories and the Mountain West Conference Championship in 2018.
 
DeBoer’s two years as the Bulldogs’ offensive coordinator concluded with a Mountain West Championship and Las Vegas Bowl win to cap a 22-6 run during the 2017-18 seasons.  Those two seasons included double-digit winning seasons each year, coming off a 1-11 campaign in 2016, the year prior to Tedford’s (and DeBoer’s) arrival.
 
Fresno State reached unprecedented heights in year No. 2 with DeBoer as the OC as the Bulldogs posted a school-record 12 victories, and finished ranked No. 18 in both polls.
 
The offense ranked 26th nationally in scoring offense (34.6) and 29th in passing offense (267.1), and produced five all-conference honorees. The Bulldogs finished eighth nationally in team passing efficiency (156.58), tied for 15th in turnovers lost (14), tied for 19th nationally in red zone offense (89.5 percent) and 25th in third-down conversions (44.6).
 
Under DeBoer’s coaching, quarterback Marcus McMaryion completed 62.1 percent of his passes, third-best in the Mountain West. With just five interceptions on the year, McMaryion finished the season with the seventh-lowest interception percentage in Bulldog history at 1.42.
 
A school-record setting wide receiver at the University of Sioux Falls (S.D.), DeBoer later led his alma mater to three NAIA National Championships in five seasons as head coach, winning the title in 2006, 2008 and 2009, while also finishing as runner-up in 2007 and making the semifinals in his first season as head coach, in 2005.
 
During his five seasons at Sioux Falls, DeBoer compiled a 67-3 overall record, including a 49-1 mark in Great Plains Athletic Conference play. In two seasons at Fresno State, he had a 12-6 overall record, giving him a career record of 79-9. He was NAIA National Coach of the Year in each of his three championship seasons at USF.
 
DeBoer coached three NAIA National Players of the Year winners in quarterbacks Lorenzo Brown (2009) and Chad Cavender (2007), and running back Nick Kortan (2002). During his time at USF, he helped develop 25 first-team All-Americans.
 
After the 2009 season, he took a job at Southern Illinois as offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach from 2010 through 2013. He moved to Eastern Michigan as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach from 2014 through 2016, helping the Eagles to their third-ever bowl-game berth in 2016. That year, the Eagles posted their first .500-or-better season since 1995 and tied the Football Bowl Subdivision mark for biggest turnarounds in 2016, improving on its one-win season in 2015.
 
DeBoer’s offense shattered the school record for total yards, with 5,917. School records were also set for points scored (385), passing yards (3,849), touchdown passes (25), first downs (303), pass completions (309), plays (999), as well single-game plays (99).
 
In his four seasons (2010-13) as offensive coordinator at Southern Illinois, the Salukis beat 10 Top-25 opponents. In 2013, the SIU offense led the Missouri Valley Conference with 231.8 passing yards per game, fourth-highest total in school history. SIU’s 25 passing touchdowns on the season tied for the third-highest total in school history. Under DeBoer’s tutelage, tight end MyCole Pruitt was named to the 2013 American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) FCS All-America team while John Lantz developed into an All-MVFC receiver.
 
During the 2011 campaign, the Salukis ranked third in the nation with an average of 183.1 rushing yards a contest. Bryan Boemer also developed into the Rimington Award winner, which is presented to the nation’s premier center.
 
As a student at Sioux Falls, DeBoer set records in both football and baseball. During his football career, he compiled 3,400 yards and 33 touchdowns on 234 career receptions – all school records at the time – and played on the 1996 NAIA Division II National Championship team, which beat Western Washington in the final. He also played baseball for the Cougars, batting .520 (still a school record) as a senior in 1998. His career average of .492 is still best in USF history as are his 37 career homers, and .944 slugging percentage.
 
A 1998 graduate of the University of Sioux Falls with a degree in secondary education, DeBoer and his wife, Nicole, are the parents of two daughters, Alexis and Avery.

DeBoer Data

Born: Oct. 24, 1974, Milbank, South Dakota
Family: wife, Nicole; daughers Alexis & Avery
Education: B.A., secondary education, University of Sioux Falls, 1998
Playing career: 4-year letterman WR (1993-96) at Sioux Falls
    Won NAIA Division II National Championship & earned All-America in 1996
    Career Stats: 234 receptions, 3,400 yards, 33 touchdowns

COACHING HISTORY
 
Washington
2022-present: Head Coach

Fresno State
2020-21: Head Coach

Indiana
2019: Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks

Fresno State
2017-18: Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks

Eastern Michigan
2014-16: Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks

Southern Illinois
2010-13: Offensive Coordinator/Wide Receivers

Sioux Falls
2005-09: Head Coach
2000-04: Offensive Coordinator

Washington High School (South Dakota)
1988-89: Assistant Coach

Sioux Falls
1997: Wide Receivers