Brock Huard credits Jennifer Cohen for rise of Washington football

Just two seasons ago, Washington was a program in turmoil under Jimmy Lake. The on-field product was not great while off-field issues took over. Kalen DeBoer has been able to come in and has done nothing but win. One more would mean the Huskies are on top of the college football world and will be national champions.

Even if Monday night against Michigan comes up a little short, it will be a historic season for Washington. Yes, a lot of credit goes out to DeBoer for turning them around in such a quick amount of time. Winners of 21 straight games, nothing like this has been done in Seattle.

Former UW quarterback Brock Huard wants to make sure everyone is receiving credit for the turnaround, though. Even if they are no longer with the program and are now running a Pac-12/future Big Ten rival.

“Jen Cohen deserves a shoutout or 100,” Huard said during Thursday’s episode of Andy Staples On3. “Because she had to make that move. Jimmy Lake’s shove of that player — what if Jimmy Lake had never shoved that player? Not had that public of a moment? Would Jen Cohen and the board and the boosters been able to just say ‘Hey, just fail fast. This isn’t working, this isn’t our guy. We’ve got to fail fast.’

“I don’t know if she would have been able to do that but [the shove] did happen. They were able to move on from Jimmy.”

Lake did not get too much time as Washington’s head coach. He replaced the legendary Chris Peterson and was in charge for a total of 13 games over two seasons with a 7-6 record. After shoving a player on the sideline during the 2021 Oregon matchup, Lake was fired. Cohen felt as if it was enough to move on and the poor results certainly did not help.

The process of finding a new head coach and some big names were linked to it. Auburn’s Bryan Harsin was one, arguably the most flashy candidate. Cal’s Justin Wilcox was a name involved as well if Washington wanted to steal from a Pac-12 foe.

Cohen went in the opposite direction and decided to hire somebody most of the public had never heard of. Huard says a ton of coaches knew how great DeBoer was despite being the Fresno State HC. His only ever Power Five job was at Indiana, spending one season as the offensive coordinator.

“She made a hard hire from a name standpoint,” Huard said. “The coaching community knew it… That move gets made, he gets hired, and my phone goes ‘ping, ping, ping, ping.’ Different coaches — ‘That’s a great hire. That guy is a football guy.’ Jen Cohen knew it then. Had the guts and resolve to not have to just get a familiar name and settle for a name.”

Washington is now reaping the benefits of Cohen’s decision, even if she is at USC. A risky move from the former athletic director could wind up bringing the program its first national championship since 1991 and just third overall. If DeBoer winds up on the podium with the opportunity to thank some people, a few names will get mentioned.

And even if Cohen is not one of them, Huard wants to make sure she gets recognition.