HOUSTON (January 6, 2024) – Washington head coach Kalen DeBoer was officially presented with the Eddie Robinson National Coach of the Year Award on Saturday evening at the JW Marriott at The Galleria. The honor is selected by the Football Writers Association of America and presented by the Allstate Sugar Bowl. Representatives from both organizations as well as Washington athletic department officials and DeBoer's wife, Nicole, and daughters, Alexis and Avery, were on hand for the trophy presentation.
 
DeBoer was named the winner of the honor on December 20 after leading the Huskies to the College Football Playoff, the most wins in program history, and the Pac-12 Championship. Washington continued its sensational season with a thrilling 37-31 win over Texas in the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl on Monday evening (January 1). The Huskies will face off against Michigan in the College Football Playoff National Championship on Monday night at NRG Stadium in Houston.
 
"The Sugar Bowl Committee is proud to congratulate Coach DeBoer on such an outstanding season," said Jeff Hundley, CEO of the Allstate Sugar Bowl. "What he's accomplished in short order at Washington, including this year's undefeated season, demands to be recognized."
 
DeBoer is the second coach from Washington to win the Eddie Robinson Award and the first in more than 30 years. Don James won it in 1991 in Washington's national championship season. Chris Petersen was a finalist in 2016. The Huskies' 13 wins are the most in school history and DeBoer is just the third Pac-12 coach to win 13 games in a season, joining Oregon's Mark Helfrich in 2014 and USC's Pete Carroll in 2004 (two wins were later vacated).
 
DeBoer was chosen from a finalist field of David Braun from Northwestern; Jamey Chadwell of Liberty; Eliah Drinkwitz of Missouri; Jedd Fisch of Arizona; Rhett Lashlee of SMU; Chuck Martin of Miami (Ohio); Mike Norvell of Florida State; Barry Odom of UNLV; Nick Saban of Alabama; Steve Sarkisian of Texas; and Jon Sumrall of Troy. Six of those coaches won conference championships, as did DeBoer.
 
On Saturday, DeBoer received the iconic bust of the late Robinson, a College Football Hall of Fame coach at Grambling State University for 55 years and winner of 408 career games.
 
"While we don't actually select the winner, we're sure pleased with this year's pick," said Sugar Bowl President Richard Briede at Saturday's reception. "We had the opportunity to spend a week with Coach DeBoer and his team and staff as they prepared for Monday's Sugar Bowl. It was wonderful to get to know a great group of first-class people. And then they stepped out on the field and showed they are more than just good people; they're one strong football team with a tremendous coach. Based on what we saw Monday night, the Sugar Bowl sure is proud to present the Eddie Robinson Award to our champion."
 
The 49-year-old DeBoer is the first Washington coach to win 11 or more games in consecutive seasons and is now 25-2 in his two seasons at the school and 37-8 overall in four seasons as a Division I head coach, including a 12-6 record in two seasons at Fresno State. Overall, DeBoer boasts a 104-11 record as a college head coach. In five seasons at Sioux Falls, his alma mater, from 2005-09, he was a remarkable 67-3 with three NAIA national titles and three national coach of the year awards. One of those losses came in the NAIA title game and another in a national semifinal.
 
"Although there were 12 finalists in a tough field for the award, coach Kalen DeBoer and the Washington Huskies' football program just had such an astonishing season in the Pac-12. We congratulate Coach DeBoer on being named for the 2023 'Eddie!,'" said Eddie Robinson III, Coach Robinson's grandson. 
 
This season DeBoer earned the Pac-12's Coach of the Year Award for a second year in a row after sharing it with then-Oregon State head coach Jonathan Smith last year. He's the first Pac-12 coach to be honored in back-to-back seasons since David Shaw in 2011-12. Don James also earned it in back-to-back seasons in 1990 (shared) and 1991, matching DeBoer as the only Washington coach to earn the conference award.
 
The FWAA has presented a coaching award since the 1957 season when Ohio State's Woody Hayes was named the first recipient. Beginning in 1997, the FWAA Coach of the Year Award has been named in honor of the late Robinson, a coaching legend at Grambling State University for 55 seasons.
Robinson, who passed away in 2007, won 70.7 percent of his games during his illustrious career. Robinson's teams won or tied for 17 Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) championships after joining the league in 1959. His Tigers teams won nine Black College Football Championships during his career, all of it at Grambling.
 
The Eddie Robinson Award is a member of the National College Football Awards Association. Founded in 1997, the NCFAA includes college football's most prestigious awards and its 24 awards have honored more than 900 recipients dating back to 1935. For more information about the NCFAA and its award programs, visit the redesigned NCFAA.org.
 
The Allstate Sugar Bowl has established itself as one of the premier college football bowl games, having hosted 28 national champions, 103 Hall of Fame players, 52 Hall of Fame coaches and 21 Heisman Trophy winners in its 89-year history. In addition to football, the Sugar Bowl Committee annually invests over $1 million into the community through the hosting and sponsorship of sporting events, awards, scholarships and clinics. Through these efforts, the organization supports and honors thousands of student-athletes each year, while injecting nearly $2.4 billion into the local economy in the last decade. For more information, visit allstatesugarbowl.org.
 
Founded in 1941, the Football Writers Association of America consists of journalists, broadcasters, publicists, photographers and key executives in all areas of college football. The FWAA works to govern media access and gameday operations while presenting awards and honors, including an annual All-America team. 
 
ALL-TIME FWAA NATIONAL COACHES OF THE YEAR
1957: Woody Hayes, Ohio State
1958: Paul Dietzel, LSU
1959: Ben Schwartzwalder, Syracuse
1960: Murray Warmath, Minnesota
1961: Darrell Royal, Texas
1962: John McKay, USC
1963: Darrell Royal, Texas
1964: Ara Parseghian, Notre Dame
1965: Duffy Daugherty, Michigan State
1966: Tom Cahill, Army
1967: John Pont, Indiana
1968: Woody Hayes, Ohio State
1969: Bo Schembechler, Michigan
1970: Alex Agase, Northwestern
1971: Bob Devaney, Nebraska
1972: John McKay, USC
1973: Johnny Majors, Pitt
1974: Grant Teaff, Baylor
1975: Woody Hayes, Ohio State
1976: Johnny Majors, Pitt
1977: Lou Holtz, Arkansas
1978: Joe Paterno, Penn State
1979: Earle Bruce, Ohio State
1980: Vince Dooley, Georgia
1981: Danny Ford, Clemson
1982: Joe Paterno, Penn State
1983: Howard Schnellenberger, Miami
1984: LaVell Edwards, BYU
1985: Fisher DeBerry, Air Force
1986: Joe Paterno, Penn State
1987: Dick MacPherson, Syracuse
1988: Lou Holtz, Notre Dame
1989: Bill McCartney, Colorado
1990: Bobby Ross, Georgia Tech
1991: Don James, Washington
1992: Gene Stallings, Alabama
1993: Terry Bowden, Auburn
1994: Rich Brooks, Oregon
1995: Gary Barnett, Northwestern
1996: Bruce Snyder, Arizona State
1997: Mike Price, Washington State
1998: Phillip Fulmer, Tennessee
1999: Frank Beamer, Virginia Tech
2000: Bob Stoops, Oklahoma
2001: Ralph Friedgen, Maryland
2002: Jim Tressel, Ohio State
2003: Nick Saban, LSU
2004: Urban Meyer, Utah
2005: Charlie Weis, Notre Dame
2006: Greg Schiano, Rutgers
2007: Mark Mangino, Kansas
2008: Nick Saban, Alabama
2009: Gary Patterson, TCU
2010: Chip Kelly, Oregon
2011: Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State
2012: Brian Kelly, Notre Dame
2013: Gus Malzahn, Auburn
2014: Gary Patterson, TCU
2015: Kirk Ferentz, Iowa
2016: Mike MacIntyre, Colorado
2017: Scott Frost, UCF
2018: Bill Clark, UAB
2019: Ed Orgeron, LSU
2020: Jamey Chadwell, Coastal Carolina
2021: Luke Fickell, Cincinnati
2022 Sonny Dykes, TCU
2023 Kalen DeBoer, Washington