A Seattle Times article from November 2022 asked Kalen DeBoer, UW football head coach at the time, if he was planning on planting roots in Washington. 
“Yes, absolutely,” DeBoer said, “My whole family is going, yes.”
So anyone can imagine the shock that befell Washington football fans everywhere when ESPN announced DeBoer’s departure from Seattle to replace Nick Saban, infamous University of Alabama head coach, no less.
Many articles, tweets, and general gossip (even from UW football players themselves) dub his move a “betrayal” to his team here at Washington and to its fans who fought alongside him for these incredible two seasons.
But was it a betrayal, or simply the right financial choice? Student opinions are varied.
“It’s sad to lose an amazing coach going 25-3 after just two seasons here, but it makes sense,” second-year student and prominent fixture in the DawgPack, Conor Zeutzius, said. “I mean, Alabama has one hell of a football program.”
Zeutzius has taken the more forgiving approach, understanding that opportunities come up for people that they might not have expected initially. But like most first impressions go, he was still blindsided by the initial departure.
A similar shock was felt by second-year Caitlyn McCulloch.
“I didn’t believe it,” McCulloch said. “I was shocked to hear he was debating leaving, and that was before he had officially signed anything. When he left, it felt devastating. It was like I was betrayed, honestly.”
Second-year students have built a unique relationship with DeBoer’s reign in the UW football program. Arriving in the same year as DeBoer (and quarterback Michael Penix Jr.), they have yet to see the program without such a strong presence, making this sudden uprooting all the more heart-wrenching.
“We were very attached to [DeBoer], especially considering this season and what he did for us,” McCulloch said. “I feel like it would have been more respectful to have a goodbye statement instead of just like, cleanly breaking it off.”
