Commentary: Kalen DeBoer should be revered for success at UW. He can also be replaced.

To begin — Kalen DeBoer should be thanked anytime he sets foot in Seattle. He turned a 4-8 flop into an 11-2 phenom in his first year as Washington’s head football coach, then led the Huskies to the national title game in his second.

Anyone who said they predicted that would also like to tell you about the three holes-in-one they had last round.

Second, I don’t believe people should fault him for heading to Alabama to replace Nick Saban. He may end up regretting it, but this is a long way from a lateral move and coaches should feel free to advance their careers.

But despite everything he accomplished in his two seasons on Montlake — the 25-3 record, the Pac-12 title, the 21-game winning streak, etc. — this isn’t a death blow to the Huskies’ future. It’s possible, just possible that DeBoer was never the godsend that people thought he was.

I don’t write with disrespect. I write that thinking of another Huskies coach — one Mike Hopkins — who, too, watched his star rise while at the helm of the men’s basketball program in his first two years.

Like DeBoer, Hopkins took over a struggling program (the Dawgs were 9-22 the year before he arrived) then won back-to-back Pac-12 Coach of the Year honors before guiding UW to its first NCAA tournament appearance (and win) in eight years.

Jen Cohen, the Washington athletic director at the time, offered Hopkins a massive contract extension in response. But in the next four seasons-plus, Hopkins’ Huskies have gone 30-53 in the Pac-12 while failing to reach a postseason tournament of any sort.

These are not apples-to-apples comparisons. Hopkins was a longtime assistant at Syracuse before getting the UW job, whereas DeBoer was a proven head coach who had won NAIA national titles at Sioux Falls before resurrecting Fresno State’s program.

There are some similarities, though, too. The first is that, like Hopkins, DeBoer inherited most of his talent at Washington. Yes, he lured then-unproven and injury-riddled Michael Penix Jr. over from Indiana, where DeBoer once served as offensive coordinator. But that A-list receiving corps of Rome Odunze, Jalen McMillan and Ja’Lynn Polk? Future NFLer defensive end Bralen Trice? Star offensive tackle Troy Fauntana? They all got here before DeBoer arrived.

Washington did not crack the top 25 in the recruiting rankings last year. They are currently 36th for the 2024 class, according to 247sports.com. Yes, success goes beyond the perceived value of the players you lure in, but those players are the biggest factor. It’s unknown if that’s a strength of DeBoer’s acumen.

Secondly, the Huskies very easily could have gone 8-4 this year. They provided perhaps the most entertaining season in Seattle sports history, but not because they were dominant. They barely escaped Arizona State, Stanford and Washington State — all of whom won two conference games each. It looked as though Oregon and Oregon State were going to top UW late in the fourth quarter in the regular season. They nicked Utah by a touchdown and downed USC by 10.

I’m not saying the Huskies were overrated — they played up to their marquee opponents and triumphed when it mattered — but they were incessantly vulnerable. And most of their stars were expected to leave before news of DeBoer’s departure.

None of this takes away from the fact that Kalen and offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb installed one of the most dynamic offenses in the country. Talented as Penix, Odunze and others were, there were several moments in each game in which the play call shined brightest. Most notable was the fourth-and-1 from UW’s 29 vs. Washington State, where Odunze broke off a 23-yard run that may have saved the season.

But there also were some questionable calls this year that were downplayed because of UW’s success. In the final 20 seconds vs. Washington State, DeBoer chose to pass twice in the red zone despite only needing a field goal to win. The first was nearly intercepted and the second resulted in a sack (and longer kick.) And against Texas, he again opted to pass in the final three minutes on third and goal from the 10, where a field goal put the Huskies up by nine. The Longhorns got to keep a crucial timeout as a result, which almost propelled them to a comeback.

DeBoer will tell you that all of these decisions are in line with the aggressive offensive philosophy that ultimately got the Dawgs to where they wanted to go. Doesn’t mean some of those choices weren’t almost very costly.

Still, if I were a Huskies fan, I’d be awfully disappointed by DeBoer’s departure today. Not disgusted, not distraught, but disappointed. Kalen was a key piece in resuscitating the Huskies and giving this city one of the more memorable sports seasons to date.

But this isn’t Saban leaving Alabama. It’s not Mike Krzyzewski leaving Duke. New Huskies director Troy Dannen has a difficult task on his hands right now, but not an impossible one.

DeBoer should be revered, yes, but he can also be replaced.