"I had an inkling around Thanksgiving": Washington athletic director Troy Dannen discloses he was aware of the possibility of Kalen DeBoer's exit

Kalen DeBoer's exit from Washington came as a shock to many college football enthusiasts. The coach was fresh off leading the Huskies to the national championship game against Michigan. But when Alabama came calling last week, DeBoer couldn't turn down the opportunity.

However, DeBoer’s exit didn't take Washington's athletic director by surprise. On Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk on Tuesday morning, Troy Dannen noted that he had a suspicion that the coach could leave the program around Thanksgiving when the regular season was in progress.

“Believe it or not, I had an inkling around Thanksgiving (that DeBoer might leave),” Dannen said. “We put a pretty good contract offer on the table and when we couldn’t get it signed, that gave me some pause.”

DeBoer replaces Alabama icon Nick Saban. Both DeBoer and Saban are represented by Jimmy Sexton, a super agent for many of the nation's elite college football coaches.

Troy Dannen did due diligence ahead of Kalen DeBoer's exit

Troy Dannen noted he was prepared for a potential exit of Kalen DeBoer at the conclusion of the season and he had done the necessary preparation. This was because the university was unable to reach a new deal with the coach.

“The fact that we couldn’t get it (new contract) signed led me to believe that there might be uncertainty down the line,” Dannen said. “Frankly, I’d been doing due diligence really over the last month and maybe five weeks just in case this eventuality came.

“I’m certainly not in a position to foresee Nick Saban retiring, but you just never know what was coming. But there was a reason we couldn’t get it signed, and it wasn’t because of what the contract looked like. So, that inkling is there, and it did give me a long runway to do a lot of due diligence along the way.”

This suggests that Dannen has been searching for a potential replacement for DeBoer over the last couple of months. It took just a few days after the coach left for Alabama for Arizona's Jedd Fisch to be brought in as a replacement.

Will Jedd Fisch keep up the good work of DeBoer?

Without a doubt, Kalen DeBoer did a great job during his time at Washington. His two seasons in Seattle were marked with significant success, ending with a 25-3 record. The coach led the Huskies to the Pac-12 championship and the national championship game in 2023.

This makes the task ahead for Jedd Fisch a big one. Fisch was successful in his last stop, turning around a woeful Arizona program, but the Huskies' job seems to be some levels beyond following the exploits of the team in the 2023 season.