What Kalen DeBoer Had to Say: Bye Week

UW head coach Kalen DeBoer held his weekly Monday press conference as the team heads into its bye week now bowl-eligible after defeating Cal 28-21 this past Saturday in Berkeley.

Opening statement…

“All right, good morning. I was watching the game, a lot of what we thought. The defense did a nice job in the first half, clearly, with pitching a shutout there. Offense got it going there in the second half, eliminated a lot of the mistakes that held us back from having the success we normally have. So I thought it was a really good team win for us. A lot of the story along the week that I actually learned more about was how tough it was to win at Cal based on how things have gone in the past. For us, it was just focusing on getting a road win. It was about the 2022 team. We went and did that. We’ve won two close games now, games where there was at least a one-score … I think it was a three-point game in the fourth quarter against Arizona and seven last weekend. So finding ways to win and being at our best when the pressure’s on in the final moments and finding a way to win is something I really appreciate. Because it’s something where a lot of people will back down. A lot of teams will back down and lose that. So our fight continues to be there. Bye week’s a great thing for us. Guys can physically improve, and probably as much as anything, just mentally (improve). We’ve been going for 11 weeks now, with four weeks of fall camp, one of those being preparation for Kent State, and then eight weeks (in the season). So much-needed break for us for a few days here. Some guys are at different phases where they’re coming back from injury and need to work to get in shape. Some optional running and lifting that they’re doing to get themselves through this week and improve their health and readiness to play even more than they have been. And then some guys who are a little more beat up because they’ve been going non-stop for the last 11 weeks. So it’s great. Our guys are excited about where we’re at. We’ve got some momentum going into this bye week and we’re ready to have a great November.”

On the bye week schedule…

“It’s a little different than what I normally would do, just because we play on a Friday and not a Saturday. So everything is kind of moved up a day. I’m a believer that you got to give them … Monday would be an off day anyway, so Tuesday and Wednesday I think it’s important for us to stay off the field. They’ll get a lift in. Everybody will be in there getting treatments all week long. Some of that treatment adjusts based on where they’re at. Wednesday we’ll get a lift in, some working out. Then Thursday a practice. There will be some guys that come in maybe on Friday, some of those that need some extra work, some extra lifts, to try to get their bodies where they’re supposed to be. Saturday we’ll practice, and that will be a shorter practice that would be equivalent to a Sunday. So that will be a shorter practice but we’ll get some early prep going for Oregon State. Then we’ll actually practice Monday (next) week, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday in prep for a Friday game. So a little different schedule there, but it won’t feel much different for the guys. Coaches are on the road here a lot the early part of this week. We’ll get to some game planning as the week goes on together as a staff.”

On if players lower in the depth chart will get more practice reps during the bye week…

“Especially on Thursday that will definitely be the case. We’ll do what we call ‘Dawgs on Dawgs.’ So your 1s will be going against the 1s and there really won’t be any game planning for Oregon State that we’ll be executing that day. So they get to run our offense and run our defense. We can clean up a couple things technically in their areas as well as with special teams. Then Saturday there will be a little bit of that but we’ll start slowly working in Oregon State that day.”

On the progress at running back…

“I know the average was down a little bit more this last week. But I felt like in the moments when we needed it, it was good. The short yardage piece I thought was much better. (Cameron Davis) does a great job (in the red zone). He is hitting the hole a lot harder. There was a third down and two, three yards in the fourth quarter there, and they were coming after us. He just didn’t hesitate, got in behind his pads, got in behind where the bubble was in the defensive line and smoked it up in there. That was a big moment for us. I know we were really back and forth between what to do there. Fourth down would have been in limbo, and it was a one- or two-score game. It was still close.

The rest of the guys are growing. Rich, seeing what he did with that catch, we had a lot of fun with that, talking about that one yesterday. I’m super proud of how he continues to come after it. He was coming off a week where he didn’t play, and then most of the week last week he missed on the recovery from his injury against Arizona State. So getting these guys healthy for the first time since the season began, or not even, because they weren’t all healthy when the season began … it’s really good. That only enhances the competition and makes them all really pushed to be at their best.”

On who was player of the week…

“You’re really forcing me to remember here. I’m already kind of moving on. But Troy played a great game offensive line wise. Michael within the coaching staff was named our offensive player, but I thought Jalen McMillan played a great game. I know he had one catch that was brought back because of a holding call. I think he had another one too, a couple maybe.

Big third down catch that he had along their sideline. The touchdown he had was in a critical moment. So I just thought time and time again he played strong. And he’s been really consistent all year, continues to add to his game. I think our entire offense does a good job with their ball security, but he was noticeably taking care of the football. And he’s done that a lot. He plays in the slot, so there’s a lot of balls where you’re catching the ball in traffic. He’s been really good that way and really consistent. So I’m super proud of him. I thought he on top of what we got from Mike was really great.

Defensively, we gave it to the front – all three of those guys harassing the passer, harassing Plummer all day. They’re a great combination. We can rotate guys in. We can get them all on the field at the same time. So they did a great job there. I thought AC in the run support did a nice job. It was great to have Meesh back. So I thought those guys in the secondary did a really good job.”

On the importance of recruiting during the bye week…

“And we can’t have contact with them on the road. But we have 19 commitments and getting to see – that’s a big number. We get a limited number of days. Every day you see even just one person play a game that counts as an evaluation day. So, we have to be strategic on how we use those days. You got to hit multiple places at one time, as far as going to see maybe a game or practice. Our coaching staff is out and about. Some are out today. Some are out most of the week.

Some are out parts of the week. We’ll hit games – some places are starting playoffs so there’s not just Friday games. There’s Thursday games and so forth. It’s really critical. Those commitments of ours feeling the love and us getting a chance to watch them play. It’s a little bit of both. We’re pretty locked in on the level of caliber we’re getting and excited about who’s coming into the program. But I think just showing that support to them by showing up to a game is huge.”

On anything DeBoer would tell Polk differently to avoid the offensive PI penalty…

“I guess he’s got to avoid him. I forgot that’s another one by J-Mac that got called back. I was thinking about the one in the right corner. But yeah, he’s just got to avoid him. He’s in his way. It’s definitely not a pick play, because we would have been going at the other defender who is on J-Mac. Not the person who’s man on us. It’s just what he’s got to do. He’s got to avoid – stay away from the contact. He’s running to a spot. He’s trying to get there, and the defender is in his way. That’s really what happened.”

“On an ideal number DeBoer is looking to hit for the 2023 recruiting class… “Yeah I think there’s a couple slots still that we could pick up. We haven’t picked up a tight end, yet. Waiting for that right person to join our program. It doesn’t have to be a high school player but certainly would take one there. Maybe another defensive back possibly would one we’d take. Pretty full at offensive line, quarterback, running back. I think just in general you want to take the best players you can. We can pick up another one to three guys I think if it’s the right ones to join our program.”

On if he has specific positions in mind to target in the transfer portal or if it depends on the high school class…

“Yeah. I think there’s certainly . . . some of it’s you kind of know already where we need some additions from the portal. Sheer numbers just to boost the level of talent at those positions. I think also some of it will depend – it’ll be a little bit fluid based on any guys that go onto the next level and move on that way. So, we’ll have some of those conversations and get a better idea. Some of those conversations have been happening already. Relationships with our guys. Slowly getting an idea. A lot of it, though, isn’t that the conversations aren’t happening. It’s just our own players not sure of what they should do, and reasonably so. They don’t know what that looks like down the road. So, I think that’s part of it, too. The piece that’s unknown.”

On Geirean Hatchett being moved into a backup tight end role and Caden Jumper update… “

“You bet. Caden was actually scout team player of the week. He was a slicing machine on split zone this last week in practice and did a great job of giving us a look. You can see the qualities he has there. And then Quentin Moore will be back this next week for sure for the Oregon State game. So, length, and I think really Q’s done a great job of developing himself and becoming more consistent than what we saw in the spring and early in fall camp. A guy we feel can go on the field. Hatchett playing some tight end. Just a needed area there especially in short yardage. We stole – it was brought up Jeremiah Martin a couple games. I think actually the question was asked to me one time where he’d gotten in earlier. We had called for it, but we were ahead by enough to where we just substituted another player in for Jeremiah in the short yardage or goal line situation that happened a few weeks ago, I think Stanford. But it was a great opportunity.

Hatchett knows the calls. Just one or two spots out extended from where he normally lines up. Those guys did a great job. I think it’s something we can certainly build on to utilize his strength and his athleticism. He’s an athlete. He can go catch the ball if we need to release him on routes here and there.”

On getting guys a taste to keep their interest…

“Well I think it’s an appreciation they have that we see the skills and believe in what they can do. Just because someone’s ahead of them it doesn’t mean we don’t believe in them. It’s just I like being creative. I like what coach Grubb and the offensive staff did to get Hatchett on the field. He’s a good player. Still developing and doing some things and that was a great way where he could help our team out.”

On the impact of the tight ends…”

The tight end position, I think, has always been huge. It’s a critical piece of our success. The wide receivers do get a lot of the attention, but those guys behind the scenes are racking up some catches and racking up yards. They give you control over the middle of the field that I’ve always believed in. You attack the outsides with the receivers down the field and the perimeter but you need someone to control the middle. Yeah you can use slot receivers, running backs working through the line of scrimmage, but the tight end position is a guy that controls the middle of the field, is physical there with the ball after the catch and then in the run game. The smarter they are, and you see our guys flexed out, motioning in, inside flex, motioning out, lining up in the backfield, on the ball, off the ball, slicing across the formation…the more they can do that and the more trust you have in them the more you can utilize them. They give us extra gaps on run plays. They can be in a spread set where there is no tight ends, it eliminates a gap. You add a tight end in there, now it’s another gap the defense has to account for and they have to do more things there. Tight end is a huge piece of what we do.”

On Wayne Taulapapa’s drops…

“I don’t know. That was disappointing, and there was no indication throughout the week of practice. We track that even in practice and (Taulapapa) caught the ball well and Wayne is a sure-handed guy and has done a good job all year. They weren’t the easiest catches, the one in the flat is one…I’d put my money on him catching that 100 percent of the time. But he didn’t and he needed to regroup and give him a chance to get his mind right again because that was something he wasn’t expecting and something we weren’t expecting. But fortunately we have other guys that we were able to rotate in and go make those plays as well.”

On building trust to avoid drops…

“First of all, I always look at guys if they have the soft hands and if they are a guy who is pretty consistent catching the ball, then it really comes down to your focus, concentration and where your eyes are at. Are you turning and running too quickly, taking your eyes off the ball? Just really simplifying it down. You catch it with your eyes. Sometimes the low balls you think you’ve got to go down there and go get it and two of Wayne’s were a little bit down. Your body starts changing levels and some of that stuff happens and you get thrown off a little bit. Just have to continue to work at it and build that confidence back up.”

On the majority of the team not having played in a bowl game… “

It’s something you don’t want to take for granted, having the chance to go post-season and play beyond the 12 games. With COVID and last year, a lot of our roster hasn’t been to a bowl game. There’s two pieces to it. Number-one is the experience, the experience to do something special, play outside the schedule, play during the holidays. Families a lot of the time are able to come join you and those are experiences you want in your program. Those are where memories are built too. The other part is the development of your program, the individual players and the practices that come along with the bowl game. So we’ll be playing more football beyond the Thanksgiving weekend and that’s huge. Along with practices comes more lifts, because soon after December, beginning of December, you’re into finals usually. And when finals hits, the lifting ceases and obviously if you’re not practicing you kind of drift off into Christmas vacation. That won’t be the case, we’ll have an extended season and that’s huge for the growth of our program.”

On players who can’t redshirt…

“Every week on Mondays in our staff meetings – and that won’t be the case this week because we have coaches on the road – but every Monday we revisit, so it helps us to know and talk about the plan for guys. There are a few that are at that point or beyond. Getting the list I know I would miss on a couple of guys if I did it right off the top of my head, but there are certainly some guys that redshirting really isn’t in the cards anymore. But there are some guys we’re trying to save it for, kind of play it by ear week-by-week and gives us the most flexibility throughout the rest of the sesaon.”

On freshman DL Jayvon Parker…

“I think he’s got his four already. Talking about him last Monday, he was one of the guys that we were going back and forth between. He’s at his four right now and I know the comment was made if we can get him enough snaps out there we definitely need to use him. That’s going to be the plan going forward. If he can go out there and help us, which he’s doing a great job – I don’t want to say he’s been a pleasant surprise because we felt like he was going to be a good player, but I think his progression has happened probably quicker than we thought. And he’s got a twin too that’s dinged up and won’t play this season with Jayvon, Armon. You guys were talking about J Green, there’s Jayvon… but Armon is going to be a good player too because they are very similar in their style of play.”

On Ryan Otton…

“He’s such a great kid. We’re grieving with him and his family with the loss of (mother) Sally. Phenomenal family that’s given a lot to this program, and Ryan’s going to continue to do that. He’s developing and coming along. Battled an injury for most of the summer, just had a little bit of a hammy – usually don’t talk about what it is but it was nothing major, just kept him from moving forward. He’s gotten through that now and is helping us out in practice each and every day. He’s going to be a really good football player for us.”

On any birthday plans…

“Got some of the players coming over tonight. That was really not for my birthday. They didn’t know it was my birthday, I don’t think. It’s one of the few days in the calendar when you look between now and the end of the season, we get to December and we’ll be able to do some things, but first time to really have with the family moving in and kind of adjusted to have some of the players over, some of the upperclassmen, the seniors, the unity council, and our team captains. So, gonna have some of those guys over for dinner tonight. That’s it. It’s all football. Football and family.”