UW Huskies extend head coach Kalen DeBoer through 2028 season

The first year of the Kalen DeBoer at the University of Washington has gone fabulously for the UW Huskies, and ahead of their Apple Cup rivalry game this Saturday, the university made a big announcement with the news that DeBoer’s contract has been extended through the 2028 season.

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DeBoer, 48, took over a 4-8 UW Huskies program and quickly turned the team into a winner as they enter their final regular season game with a 9-2 record and No. 12 ranking in the latest AP poll. Additionally, the Huskies with a win and some help could find themselves playing in the Pac-12 Championship Game against USC. And with nine wins and counting as the Huskies could play up to three more games, DeBoer has the most wins of any first-year coach in program history.

“It is clear that Kalen is such an amazing fit at the University of Washington,” UW athletic director Jen Cohen said in a statement announcing the extension. “He has come in and made an incredible impact in every aspect of the program, our department, the University and the Seattle community. Kalen is an elite competitor who approaches each and every situation with the utmost class and integrity. We couldn’t be more excited that he and his family will be on Montlake for the foreseeable future leading these tremendous young men in our football program.”

“My family and I have loved every minute of being here at this amazing institution in this world-class city,” DeBoer said. “We talk all the time about how it’s the people who set a place apart and Husky Nation is filled with some of the best we have ever encountered. We are incredibly grateful for the support we have received and are excited to continue to build on the amazing tradition of success we have here at the University of Washington. Go Dawgs!”

DeBoer joined the UW Huskies after spending two years as the head coach at Fresno State, where he compiled a 12-6 record. Prior to those two seasons, he was an offensive coordinator at Indiana, Fresno State, Eastern Michigan and Southern Illinois. Before all those stops, DeBoer was the head coach at NAIA Sioux Falls, his alma mater, where he compiled a 67-3 record with three NAIA National Championships.

DeBoer succeeded Jimmy Lake, who was fired partway through the 2021 season both due to poor performance on the field as well as a sideline altercation with a player. Lake was a longtime defensive coach under former UW head coach Chris Petersen, who serves as an advisor to Cohen and the UW athletic department.

According to Mike Vorel of the Seattle Times, DeBoer will earn $4.2 million in 2023 and his salary will increase by $100,000 every year until the end of the contract, finishing out at $4.7 million. The $4.2 million figure for next season is a raise of $1 million, per Vorel, and the contract comes with multiple retention bonuses as well.

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