Washington candidates: Who is ready to lift the Huskies into the Big Ten?

Kalen DeBoer took UW to the brink of a national title. He is now succeeding the G.O.A.T. Who succeeds DeBoer in Seattle? The job has never been better.

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Washington is open. It didn’t open the way we all thought it would open — you’re never fully ready when Nick Saban retires — but the fact that Alabama is hiring the Huskies’ coach should tell you everything you need to know about what Kalen DeBoer did in Seattle in two short years.

This is a great job. The Huskies are coming off a national title berth, are Big Ten-bound and have a new athletic director in Troy Dannen, who oversaw the rise of Tulane, which won the 2022-23 Cotton Bowl.

The school is expected to use Parker Executive Search, the same firm it used when hiring Dannen as AD in October.

Does UW swing for a big name or look inside to try to keep the momentum going? There is no shortage of compelling options.