For the last two seasons, it was commonplace for Washington Huskies fans to see coach Kalen DeBoer’s team ranked as a top-ten offense in the country.
The defense? Not so much.
In the chaos and uncertainty of the recreation of the roster under coach Jedd Fisch, something has risen from the ashes: a stellar defense. The Huskies rank No. 9 in the country in total defense, allowing just 266.3 yards per game, more precisely, defensive coordinator Steve Belichick’s unit has surrendered 1,864 yards on 420 plays for an average of 4.44 yards per play.
As members of the Big Ten, Washington’s new conference is very defense-heavy. Ohio State, Indiana, Minnesota, and Penn State join Washington as the conference occupies half of the top ten spots on the list.
Texas tops the list, with Tennessee and Kentucky filling out the top three, while top 10 teams Alabama, Georgia, and Oregon are nowhere to be found.
Belichick has brought a new life to the defensive side of the ball on Montlake. The most important thing he’s brought is autonomy, as any member of the Husky defense will attest to.
“Belichick is a mastermind when it comes to playcalling,” defensive lineman Voi Tunuufi said. “He gives us the responsibility to put our futures in our own hands, being able to make the plays he wants us to make, and doing things that we have to get ourselves better.”
The former NFL coach is coaching on a team that his father, eight-time Super Bowl champion Bill Belichick, isn’t a part of for the first time in his career and has adjusted to coaching at the college level seamlessly.
He has installed a scheme that has helped the Huskies go from having the No. 99 ranked defense in 2023, allowing an average of 406.7 yards per game, to one of the nation’s elite units. The fact that he did it with a new cast of characters, including just two starters from the team that vied for a national championship in January, makes it even more impressive.
He’s also made it hard for Washington fans not to sit back and wonder what could have been if this defense was playing with last season’s offense, led by Michael Penix Jr., Rome Odunze, and company.