The Washington Huskies and the 5 Rs of a Rebuild

The college football landscape has dramatically changed in recent years. 

Players can now receive money, transfer at various points of the season, and are no longer obligated to wait a full year before resuming their careers. 

The volatility has created challenges for established programs as well as coaches taking over new programs. The patience for winning is non-existent in part due to the vast sums of money awaiting conferences from the television revenues.

Tonight, the University of Washington will compete for a National Championship — its first since 1991 — against the University of Michigan. 

Washington has a storied history of great players and coaches; however, in the recent years, it’s lost some of its luster. When the school hired Kalen DeBoer in 2022, he inherited a 4-8 team with internal issues — creating uncertainty around the program.

Immediately DeBoer changed the direction and the attitude — and has only lost two games in the past two seasons. 

Taking over a downtrodden team is similar to taking over a failed business, an underperforming group. It requires a solid action plan with a comprehensive understanding of why things were bad, and a plan to fix what is broken.

DeBoer took these steps five steps, which The Daily Coach considers the 5 Rs of rebuilding and remodeling. 

1. Recruit what you inherit. Most new leaders what to rid themselves of the old and start new. We often hear, “I want my kind of players around me.” As a leader, new or old players have to be indoctrinated into the system. Changing for change’s sake isn’t always the right way. 

2. Recruit what you need. By spending time understanding the strength and weakness of the situation as it applies to the approach, DeBoer was able to fill in the gaps, without upsetting the culture. “We wanted to be really careful with that, because we felt that there was a base within the program of good football players, great people,” he said.

3. Repair relationships. Everyone needs to be pulling in the same direction, on and off the field. Sustainable success can only be achieved when there is alignment. And alignment can only occur when everyone works together. Communication is critical. 

4. Regenerate Leaders. Before arriving, the team had a core leadership group, and those that remained can become effective leaders, even under new management. It was DeBoer’s job to allow them to find their leadership voice within the program, then develop other leaders. The making and developing of leaders is critical to achieving sustainable success.

5. Resistance is the enemy. When the leader is focused on the process over the wins, this helps the team fight off the resistance to look ahead, take the easy way out, or slack off. DeBoer’s team focused on the moment and after each practice they would come together and chant 1-0. 

The success of Washington isn’t about one game. Win or lose tonight, the Huskies program has been rebuilt to achieve sustainable success in years to come.

And it’s thanks to Coach DeBoer. 

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