Kalen DeBoer offers thoughts on state of college football
In his second season with the Washington Huskies, Kalen DeBoer has taken them to the College Football Playoff championship game. He’s managed to do that amid massive changes in the sport that have already begun to reshape the landscape of college football.
Ahead of the national title game, DeBoer offered his thoughts on the state of college football in 2024 and beyond.
“There’s a lot happening, and I think it will never end,” Kalen DeBoer admitted. “There’s going to be something. It might not be that conference alignment is maybe hot at the time or something kind of gets tweaked with the portal and all that. There is a lot going on.”
Washington is one of the programs that is tied up in one of the sport’s biggest changes, conference realignment, with the Huskies set to move to the Big Ten next season. On top of that, Washington largely got to the title game this season because of the transfer portal, where the Huskies landed quarterback Michael Penix Jr.
As Kalen DeBoer pointed out, the teams that succeed are going to be the ones who find a way to adapt to those changes. Otherwise, the game could pass them by.
“I think that the coaches, the programs that can continue to evolve with the times and adjust, those are the ones that are going to be most successful,” DeBoer said.
“But I don’t have a perfect answer on what the fix is. Certainly willing to be a part of committees or whatever it might be to talk through and working with the coaches across the country to make the little tweaks year to year that need to be done and to try to stay away from those unfortunate situations that have popped up — not just this year, but in the past couple of years.”
Those recent changes in college sports go beyond just conference realignment and the transfer portal. There is also NIL to contend with and next season the College Football Playoff is set to expand. All of that will have an impact on the sport and it’s an impact that likely won’t be completely understood at first.
Kalen DeBoer explains why establishing the run is pivotal in CFP championship game
For now, Kalen DeBoer has his focus on the field where he knows beating Michigan is going to be an incredibly difficult task. He also knows that, even with Washington’s identity being in the passing game, it’s vital that the Huskies find a way to run the ball.
“We know what Michigan’s done with their running game and their offensive line and just how it controls the tempo of the game. If your offensive line has got that physical presence to them, your whole team probably has that physical presence, as well, because that’s what they’re going against each and every day in practice,” DeBoer said.
“The running game is critical, not just to Michigan is trying to do but what we are, as well… To be able to offset anything as far as them attacking Michael and just keeping away from being in a one-dimensional type of spot, where it’s obvious pass downs all the time.”