Published by : Emmanuele Paul
Englsih   | Reading time :  minutes

 

University of Washington spring practice was the last time Husky football was upbeat and fun.

Music hand-picked by coach Jimmy Lake reverberated throughout the two-hour morning workouts, giving off a Huskypalooza-type vibe. In the middle of a drill, defensive tackle Tuli Letuligasenoa felt so moved he danced to a Michael Jackson song.

Lake tried to keep things engaging and interesting throughout the 15 sessions. Adding offbeat competition, he made linemen catch towering punts. He had his assistant coaches run sprints. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.

All the positive stuff was forgotten once the regular season arrived. The 20th-ranked Huskies scored a single touchdown and got upset by Montana in the opener, signs of bad things to come. Altogether, they lost eight of 12 games. One Zion Tupuola-Fetui injury in the spring turned into 10 others in the fall.

Jimmy Lake and his staff got fired.

On Wednesday morning, the Husky football team begins a month of practices under the watchful eye of new coach Kalen DeBoer and his assistants, with UW offensive-line coach Scott Huff the lone carryover.

Chances are it will be a much more serious affair considering the change in coaches and lack of victories following the old approach.

Lake, after building a national reputation for developing defensive backs, seemed to envision himself as a new-age players’ coach, as the life of the football party, as the spring practice DJ.

DeBoer, the South Dakota transplant, likely will be much more businesslike in how he runs things, letting his Midwest values show without the added frills.

He’ll let the fun come in the form of fall victories, the giddiness emerge from offensive genius and plenty of scoring.

With that, here are 10 pressing questions we have before the Huskies submit to a new way of spring drills:

1) Who will be the starting quarterback when it’s done?

Indiana transfer Michael Penix Jr. was brought in for a reason. He’ll be the No. 1 quarterback unless something unexpected…

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