Alabama officially reveals DeBoer’s eight-year contract figures

Former Washington Huskies head coach Kalen DeBoer could make close to $12 million by the end of his Alabama contract.

Kalen DeBoer turned down two separate contract extension offers from athletic director Troy Dannen and the Washington Huskies in his final months on the job. According to Dannen, the first offer would have paid Alabama’s new head coach $8.7 million annually and the second was increased to an average of $9.4 million, maxing out at $10 million in its final season.

“We put numbers in front of him that were, quite frankly, unprecedented for this university,” Dannen said at a gathering of donors at the W Bellevue Hotel in January. “We put a Big Ten package in front of Kalen, not a Pac-12 package.”

Athletic director Greg Byrne and the Crimson Tide started at that $10 million figure, which will max out at $11.75 million if DeBoer remains in Tuscaloosa for the entirety of his eight-year deal, which expires in 2031.

According to the USA TODAY head coaching salary database, only five coaches made over $10 million last season and two of them, Mel Tucker and Nick Saban, are no longer coaching.

With Florida State’s Mike Norvell and Ole Miss’ Lane Kiffin among some around the nation that signed extensions or are set to receive a pay bump, DeBoer might not find his name in the top five of the nation’s highest paid coaches, but it will certainly be inside the top 10.

Much like his deal with Washington, DeBoer’s contract with Alabama is also laced with incentives. He can earn an $875,000 bonus if he leads the Crimson Tide to a national championship.

Georgia transfer turning heads early in spring practice

The Georgia Bulldogs added multiple receivers to their team this offseason, and reports indicate one has already made his presence felt.

The Georgia Bulldogs added multiple receivers to their team via the transfer portal this offseason, and early reports indicate that one has already made his presence felt this Spring.

According to On3, a great deal of positive feedback was given regarding the performance of Miami transfer Colbie Young, who caught multiple passes including a touchdown during the practice. Young, who played three years with the Hurricanes, recorded 47 catches for 563 yards and five touchdowns a year ago prior to transferring to the Bulldogs this offseason.

Young is listed at 6’5 and 215 pounds and has previously drawn comparisons to another well-known former Bulldog who transferred from Miami in Lawrence Cager, who was nearly the same size and shares a similar skillset as Young. Georgia has lacked a true jump ball threat at receiver over the past few years since Cager left, and if he continues to progress, Young could fit that role perfectly.

Washington commit Dash Beierly stars at Elite 11 showcase

Washington’s quarterback commit Dash Beierly stood out against some of the nation’s top prospects at the Elite 11 showcase in Los Angeles.

Coach Jedd Fisch and the Washington Huskies appear to have a promising prospect in three-star quarterback Dash Beierly, who stood out among some stiff competition during Sunday’s Elite 11 showcase at Leuzinger High School in California.

Beierly, who recently announced that he would be transferring to national powerhouse Mater Dei High School, finished in the top five of all participants while also posting the top SPARQ athletic score of 97.26, eight points above the second place finisher who put up a score of 89.61.

“It was great to compete with all these top guys and taking home the top athlete rating was pretty cool,” Beierly told Max Torres of Sports Illustrated/Fan Nation’s Ducks Digest. “There’s so much talent out here and I feel like I had a great day out here.”

Even though four-star quarterback Husan Longstreet earned the top performer title for the day and punched his ticket to the Elite 11 finals, Beierly impressed evaluators and media members alike.

As he moves into the Trinity League to face a higher level of competition at Mater Dei, he should continue to showcase his impressive athleticism and ability to accurately deliver the ball to all three levels of the field.

“I’m ready to compete,” he told Torres of making the move to the defending high school national champions. “Everyone at Mater Dei has given me a warm welcome and I’m ready to compete and win games. It’s obviously really challenging to be a part of the Trinity League but I’m looking forward to being a part of it and hoping I can lead my guys to victory.”

Reliving Washington’s 2023 season: UW stomps Michigan State 41-7

The Washington Huskies went into Michigan State and put up over 700 yards of offense in a rout of the Spartans.

The Washington Huskies took to the road for the first time in 2023 season as they travelled to Michigan State to take on the Spartans. Quarterback Michael Penix Jr. had his third-straight 400-yard passing performance to open the season, throwing for 473 yards and 4 touchdowns in just three quarters.

While coach Kalen DeBoer’s team suffered a few key injuries to wide receiver Jalen McMillan and offensive lineman Julius Buelow, the Huskies still tallied 713 yards of offense. Also on the injury front, center Parker Brailsford made his first start at the position after Matteo Mele was lost for the year at the end of the Tulsa game.

Rome Odunze led the way for Washington’s receivers with 8 catches for 180 yards, while tight end Jack Westover finished his day with 4 grabs for 37 yards and 3 touchdowns, all coming before halftime. Ja’Lynn Polk added 5 receptions for 118 yards and a score on a few miraculous grabs, while McMillan had 4 catches for 96 yards before going down.

Cornerback Mishael Powell pulled in the first interception of his career while freshman Tybo Rogers led all ball carriers with 74 rushing yards. Wide receiver Germie Bernard opened the scoring with a rushing touchdown against his former team, which felt like an intentional move by offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb.

As we look back through Washington’s magical run to the national championship in 2023, enjoy some of the best photos of the journey from our USA TODAY network of photographers.

Odunze can make Washington history in the NFL Draft

Rome Odunze has a shot to become the highest drafted Husky in the modern age of the NFL draft.

Rome Odunze carved his place into Washington Huskies history during the 2023 season, being named a consensus All-American, finishing his career second all-time in catches and receiving yards, and tied for third in receiving touchdowns. Now, he has a chance to etch his name into the UW record books one last time as the highest-drafted player from Washington in the modern era of the NFL draft.

Since the draft moved to seven rounds in 1994, three Huskies have seen three players drafted in the top 10: wide receivers Reggie Williams and John Ross were both taken ninth overall in 2004 and 2017 respectively, and Jake Locker was selected with the No. 8 pick in 2011.

After impressing at the NFL combine earlier this month, Odunze is considered close to a lock to be taken inside the top 10 when the draft begins on April 25.

He has been projected to be taken as high as No. 4 overall and has done everything he can to improve his draft stock. The only thing standing between Odunze and school history is the same factory that’s in the way of many other prospects, who will have to see where a few quarterbacks are taken.

With quarterbacks projected to be taken with the top three picks in this year’s draft, the watch for Odunze to come off the board should start when the Arizona Cardinals are on the clock at No. 4 overall.

Behind the Cardinals, the Los Angeles Chargers and New York Giants at picks No. 5 and No. 6 are also in the market for a wide receiver, as are the Chicago Bears at No. 9 overall, the lowest Odunze is expected to go. Both New York and Los Angeles are in desperate need of a No. 1 receiver, making it very likely the consensus All-American finds his way into the top six picks.

Reliving Washington’s 2023 season: UW beats Tulsa 43-10

The Washington Huskies handled business in the second game of their magical run to the national championship, beating Tulsa 43-10.

The Washington Huskies didn’t stumble in a non-conference matchup with the Tulsa Golden Hurricane, walking away with a 43-10 victory over their foes from the American Athletic Conference.

Quarterback Michael Penix Jr. threw for 408 yards and 3 touchdowns, his second straight 400 yard performance. Without running back Dillon Johnson, who missed the game with a knee injury, offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb turned to a few of his wide receivers to give his ground game a boost.

Wide receivers Rome Odunze and Ja’Lynn Polk both scored a touchdown on handoffs, from 14 and 27 yards respectively. Jalen McMillan was Washington’s leading receiver, pulling in 8 catches for 120 yards and a touchdown while Odunze added 7 grabs for 107 yards and a score.

Safety Kamren Fabiculanan recorded an interception for the second straight week while cornerback Jabbar Muhammad came streaking all the way across the field to record the first full sack of his career.

Running back Daniyel Ngata and wide receiver Germie Bernard both found the end zone as the Huskies didn’t have any trouble winning their second game of the season, in fact punter Jack McCallister never took the field.

As we look back through Washington’s magical run to the national championship in 2023, enjoy some of the best photos of the journey from our USA TODAY network of photographers.

Forget outside the box, Penix is best outside the numbers

Pro Football Focus gave Washington Huskies star Michael Penix Jr. one of their draft superlatives at the quarterback position.

It’s no secret that former Washington Huskies star Michael Penix Jr. is one of the best pure throwers in the 2024 NFL draft. In what is considered to be one of the best quarterback classes in a long time, Penix is battling to hear his name called in the first round and his deep ball prowess is one of his biggest selling points.

A big part of throwing an elite deep ball in the NFL is accuracy outside the numbers and Pro Football Focus’ Trevor Sikkema claims that there is nobody in this draft class better than Penix at throwing those passes, dubbing him as the class’ best thrower outside the numbers on his list of quarterback superlatives.

“He has a rocket launcher of an arm and loves to fire frozen ropes to the sidelines to show it off,” Sikkema said. “If that’s where your vertical offense likes to look, he’s your guy.”

According to PFF’s grading system, 2,397 of Penix’s nation-leading 4,903 passing yards came on throws outside the numbers. He also made 23 of what the analytics site calls “big-time throws” while only three passes were graded as turnover-worthy plays.

Of the 218 first downs the Huskies picked up through the air, 110 of them came on throws outside the numbers. With the receiving corps Penix had to work with last season, especially Rome Odunze and Ja’Lynn Polk, the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy loved to identify and attack single coverage on the outside, trusting his receivers to make a play.

Even though Penix had one of the nation’s best groups of pass catchers to work with, he displays tremendous arm talent every time he makes a throw outside the numbers. He consistently drops passes into a bucket in spots where only his receivers are able to make a play.

With as many as four quarterbacks slated to get taken inside the top six picks of this year’s draft, Penix should hear his name called in the first round and help add an explosive element to his future team.

 

Vita Vea can officially stake his claim as the NFL’s best defensive tackle in 2024

After Aaron Donald’s retirement, Vita Vea can assert himself as the league’s best defensive tackle.

“Quarterbacks rejoice,” the Los Angeles Rams said on X (formerly Twitter) as future Hall of Fame defensive tackle Aaron Donald announced his retirement from the NFL after 10 seasons with the Los Angeles Rams.

The three-time Defensive Player of the Year leaves a large void in the league, as for the first time since 2017, a debate can be had about who the best defensive tackle in the NFL is. One person who certainly has a claim to that crown is former Washington Huskies star Vita Vea.

Since he was drafted with the No. 12 overall pick by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2018, he has been a disruptive force. He was selected to the Pro Bowl in 2021 after recording 4 sacks and signed a four-year, $73 million extension following the conclusion of the regular season.

Since signing the deal, he has only gotten better. Vea tallied a career-high 6.5 sacks in 2022 and in 2023, set career-best marks in tackles (41) and tackles for loss (8) while still earning 5.5 sacks. He also led the Buccaneers to the No. 5 run defense by yards allowed last year.

Vea has always been one of the best at collapsing the pocket even if he is never among the leaders at the position in sacks and he should continue to build on his success in 2024.

Even though he has to compete with players like the Baltimore Ravens’ Justin Madubuike and the Kansas City Chiefs’ Chris Jones who have better counting stats, Vea makes arguably the biggest impact of any defensive tackle in the NFL thanks to his ability against the run.

The 6-foot-4, 347-pound lineman is extremely hard to move in the run game and even when he isn’t the one making the tackle, is consistently creating opportunities for his teammates to make plays.

Now, Vea will have a chance to assert himself as the best defensive tackle in the league without Donald around and should take full advantage of that chance this fall.

4-star receiver projected to commit to Georgia

Multiple experts have projected a top in-state receiver to commit to Georgia football over the past week.

Four-star receiver Travis Smith Jr. has been projected by multiple experts to commit to Georgia over the past week. Both 247Sports’ Steve Wiltfong and Benjamin Wolk over the past week have predicted that the Dawgs will land the coveted 6-foot-4, 191-pound pass catcher, who is currently the 11th ranked player at the position in the class of 2025.

Smith is an Atlanta native who caught 843 yards on 53 receptions last season along with 11 touchdowns for Westlake High School in Atlanta, Georgia. He is a dual sport athlete, also playing for the Westlake basketball team. In addition to Georgia, he has made visits to Tennessee, Alabama, and Auburn.

Smith’s primary recruiter on the Georgia staff is receivers coach James Coley, who has quickly reacclimated back into his role as a recruiter for the Dawgs since being hired away from South Carolina to replace Bryan McClendon. The Dawgs’ 2025 class currently has five commitments, with none at the wide receiver position.

Former Washington WR Dante Pettis re-signs with the Chicago Bears

The Chicago Bears have decided to bring back former Washington Huskies wide receiver Dante Pettis.

The Chicago Bears are the talk of the NFL world after trading for wide receiver Keenan Allen while deciding what to do with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft. As they decide between a new quarterback with that pick or Justin Fields, general manager Ryan Poles has decided to bring back former Washington Huskies wide receiver Dante Pettis on a one-year contract.

After being drafted in the second round by the San Francisco 49ers in 2018, Pettis has spent the last three seasons with the Bears. In 2022, he pulled in 19 receptions for 245 yards and 3 touchdowns before missing all of 2023 with an injury.

During his time at Washington, Pettis was a consensus First-Team All-American in 2017 and set an NCAA record with 9 punt returns for a touchdown. He finished his career with 153 catches for 2,256 yards and 24 touchdowns.

The Bears appear to be loading up on offense after adding Allen in a trade with the Los Angeles Chargers on Thursday night and signing running back D’Andre Swift in free agency. Pettis should provide quality depth for Chicago while also acting as a returner.