Clean Slate

With a long history of turning things around, new Husky football helmsman Kalen Deboer is equal to the task

BY BOB SHERWIN • CONTRIBUTING WRITER

In the bucolic southeast South Dakota city of Sioux Falls, 250 miles from the nearest metropolis, crossroads have few stop signs. You can sometimes just roll past without even pausing.

Back in the fall of 1998, Kalen DeBoer was rolling through life nowhere else he would rather be. He enjoyed his first gig as head coach of the sophomore team at Sioux Falls’ Washington High School. His team put together an 8-0 record. And on the weekends, he would help coach the varsity.

He was comfortable and content, working a job he loved within a state where he had lived his entire life. There were no thoughts on where he would be in a year, in five years, no wild ambitions, no career choices to make, no crossroads to pause or ponder.

“I just loved that,” said DeBoer, hired as the Washington Huskies head coach in November. “It allowed me to organize things. You’re learning the ropes, concepts, and the strategy component. They’re counting on you to put things together.

Then two years later, in the summer of 2000, DeBoer moved up, but not away, to the University of Sioux Falls. It’s just a three-mile drive away. If you’ve gone past the Dairy Queen Grill and Chill you’ve gone too far. Cougars head coach Bob Young invited him to return to the school — as offensive coordinator — where he was a recordsetting wide receiver (1993-96). Sioux Falls, an NAIA school of 1,600 (35 percent male students), was his big time.

“I loved the challenge, changing so many of their lives,” he said. “I enjoy being around people, wearing many hats. I was the equipment guy, video guy, we built lockers, made playbooks. There were no graduate assistants there. You name it, we did it.”

As it happened, that same week he also met a woman, Nicole Tendler, a former basketball star at nearby Augustana College. The two married in December 2001, would raise two girls, Alexis and Avery, and settle into a most satisfying South Dakotan lifestyle.

In DeBoer’s first season as offensive coordinator, Sioux Falls was 6-4. The program then embarked into a remarkable run for the next decade. The Cougars went to the NAIA national championship game in 2001, the semifinals in 2002 and 2003 and the quarters in 2004.

After the 2004 season, Young retired and De- Boer was named head coach. The Cougars went to the national semifinals in 2005 then played in the title game the next four years, winning the championship in 2006, 2008 and 2009.

In his five seasons at Sioux Falls, DeBoer’s teams went 67-3, including 49-1 in conference play. Still, he was unmoved.

DeBoer was an admirer of former Pacific Lutheran Coach Frosty Westering, the winningest coach in NAIA history. He had read Westering’s book, Make the Big Time Where You Are, and couldn’t be happier with where he was.

He had occasional offers from colleges trying to lure him away, “but I had no intention of going anywhere. It wasn’t about how far you could go. Life is always good when you’re winning.”

For DeBoer, born and raised in (Millbank) South Dakota, his entire education experience was within the state, through to Sioux Falls. He and Nicole had built a house in 2007. He had remarkable coaching success and folks around campus loved him. He said, “by 2008, 2009 (back-to-back NAIA champions), we were having such a good time.”

However, he was 35 years old in 2009. He had been at Sioux Falls for a decade, winning three NAIA titles and three NAIA coach-of-the-year awards. It was now hard for him to suppress the one big fat question that creeped into his mind — is there something for me beyond these borders?

“If I was going to coach at a higher level, I needed experience,” he assessed. “There wasn’t much more I could do. I felt we had accomplished our goals.”

He finally answered the call — from Dale Lennon, head coach at Southern Illinois, a program a step just below Division I. DeBoer accepted the role as the Salukis’ offensive coordinator. Thus, it began. After decades in one place, for the next 10 years, DeBoer became one of the college game’s most sought-after coaches, serving as OC at Southern Illinois for four years (2010-13), OC at Eastern Michigan for three years (2014-16), OC/assistant head coach at Fresno State for two seasons (2017-18), OC/assistant HC at Indiana for one season before returning to Fresno in 2020 as head coach. His Fresno team went 3-3 in his first COVID-altered season then 10-3 last season.

“I wouldn’t change my path for anything,” De- Boer said. “I learned from so many different people, Coach Young at Sioux Falls, Dale Lennon at Southern Illinois, Chris Creighton at Eastern Michigan, Jeff Tedford at Fresno State, and Tom Allen at Indiana.

“I wouldn’t change my path for anything,” DeBoer said. “I learned from so many different people, Coach Young at Sioux Falls, Dale Lennon at Southern Illinois, Chris Creighton at Eastern Michigan, Jeff Tedford at Fresno State, and Tom Allen at Indiana. They were all guys who won championships or were extremely successful. “You take bits and pieces from every step along the way.”

They were all guys who won championships or were extremely successful. “You take bits and pieces from every step along the way.”

In a combined seven seasons as head coach, DeBoer’s teams went 79-9 (87-9 including those Washington High sophs). That was the shining object that caught the eye of Washington Athletic Director Jennifer Cohen, the .898-win percentage. As he says, “those programs were better and won more games when I was there than when I wasn’t there.”

Indeed, just before he took over as OC at Sioux Falls, the Cougars were 2-8. Within four years, they were 14-0 and on a path to three NAIA titles. Eastern Michigan, as DeBoer explained, “was as tough as it gets.” The Eagles were 7-41 from 2012 to 2015 then went 7-6 in 2016 and earned their first bowl invitation in 30 years. At Fresno State, the Bulldogs were 1-11 in 2016 before he became OC. They went 10-4 in 2017 and 12-2 in 2018.

Indiana went from 5-7 to 8-5 and a Gator Bowl appearance in his one-year turnaround at Bloomington. It was the most victories for Indiana in 26 years.

This is paramount for the Washington football program, perhaps in its most precarious circumstance since 2008 when the team suffered through its worst season in history at 0-12. The Huskies were 4-8 last season, fired coach Jimmy Lake and dispatched much of the staff. Current players and recruits are in flux with uncertain allegiances. The roster and 2022 season are left to DeBoer to unscramble.

“I’ve seen what 1-11 looks like and I’ve seen what 14-0 looks like,” DeBoer said. “What matters are the little details and how we get there.

“Being 4-8 in a place like Washington where it has great resources, that has tradition and history that you can recruit to, that has amazing people and academics, this place is a gold mine,” he added. “They’ve (Huskies) proved that they can win at a very high level.”

I’ve seen what 1-11 looks like and I’ve seen what 14-0 looks like,” DeBoer said. “What matters are the little details and how we get there.

DeBoer’s other eye-catching quality — what has stoked his reputation through six programs at three levels in his role as either the offensive coordinator or head coach — has been the high offensive proficiency of his multiple pro-spread offense.

“The explosive element to it,” he said, “big chunks of yardage at a time. We have a system that creates explosive plays.”

He said the system adjusts to any personnel strength. It could be the wide receiver focus one year and tight ends the next, always striving for a powerful running component. And his performance standard is higher than most.

“It’s hard to put a lot of points on the board when you are picking up just five yards at a time,” he explained. Think about that. When an offense effectively averages first-down yardage every other play, that just is not enough for him. How about 30 yards and a cloud of dust? Or rubber pellets.

“We built that reputation,” he said. “And better players are attracted to you.”

When DeBoer says ‘we’ he means those who have joined him on his journey. Chuck Morrell (UW’s co-defensive coordinator/safeties) goes back to South Dakota with him. He played and coached with DeBoer at Sioux Falls and rejoined him at Fresno, and now here.

William Inge (co-defensive coordinator/linebackers) was with DeBoer at Indiana and Fresno. Eric Schmidt (special teams/edge) goes back to Southern Illinois and Fresno the past two years. Ryan Grubb (offensive coordinator/quarterbacks) was on the staff at Eastern Michigan and two Fresno stints with DeBoer. Nick Sheridan (tight ends) was with him in Indiana while Julius Brown (cornerbacks), Lee Marks (running backs) and Ron McKeefrey (strength) came over from Fresno.

“It’s been 20 years of building a staff,” DeBoer said. “Being an assistant at these places allows you to connect with these guys.”

It has been a peripatetic journey for DeBoer, from a small pond to the shores of Lake Washington. The Husky nation will be keenly interested in how his humble background, his vast variety of experiences and this collection of coaches can take the UW program to where it can be again.

“It’s a little path that most people wouldn’t want to take,” he added. “That’s why I’m proud of my journey. It has taught me so many things along the way.”

RESUME

COACHING HISTORY

Head Coach Record 79-93

NAIA Natinoal Championships

3X NAIA National Caoch of the Year

• WASHINGTON Head Coach 2022-

• FRESNO STATE Head Coach 2020-2021

• INDIANA Off. Coord. & Assoc.Head Coach/QBS 2019

• FRESNO STATE Off. Coord. & Asst. Head Coach/QBS 2017-18

• EASTERN MICHIGAN Off. Coord./QBS 2014-16

• SOUTHERN ILLINOIS Off. Coord./WRS 2010-13

• SIOUX FALLS Head Coach 2005-09 Off. Coord. 2000-04

• WASHINGTON H.S. (S.D.) Asst. Coach 1998-99

• SIOUX FALLS Student Asst. Coach/WRS 1997

EDUCATION

• UNIVERSITY OF SIOUX FALLS 1998 Bachelor's in Secondary Education

PLAYING EXPERIENCE

• SIOUX FALLS Wide Reciever 1993-96 All-American 1996 NAIA Division II National Champion