NEW ORLEANS — At 8:30 a.m. Sunday, an improbable pair entered through the back doors of the big ballroom, as cameras clicked and heads turned and the Superdome waited a mile away. They walked past rows of occupied seats and climbed two stairs to the stage — sitting behind three black tables, two helmets and a trophy in between.
The trophy shone in silver and the same gold as the Huskies’ helmet, with a miniature football atop an ornate cup sprouting from the roof of the Superdome.
On its base, four words teased in bold gold type:
SUGAR BOWL CLASSIC CHAMPION
By roughly 9 p.m. Monday, either Kalen DeBoer or Steve Sarkisian will hold that trophy above his head.
DeBoer — who hails from Milbank, South Dakota, population 3,544; who built a dynasty at the University of Sioux Falls, his alma mater, riding buses to tiny towns and earning everything; who toiled for 10 years as an assistant at Southern Illinois, Eastern Michigan, Fresno State and Indiana, taking college football’s back roads to its biggest stage.
sugar bowl coverage Washington 37, Texas 31
Sarkisian — who ascended, disintegrated and regenerated; who brought Washington from winless punchlines back to bowl games, a commendable and exacting climb; who left for USC and was fired 18 games later, after appearing intoxicated at a pre-practice meeting; who rebuilt a career and reputation, then lifted No. 3 Texas (12-1) from 5-7 in 2021 to the College Football Playoff two years later.
So, there sat an improbable pair.
Different paths, but same stage.
“Hell yeah, I did,” said a grinning Sarkisian, when asked if he ever doubted he’d reach this point. “Geez, I was out of work, couldn’t get an interview, never mind a job, never mind thinking about the College Football Playoff. I think that’s what makes this journey with this team this year so gratifying. Naturally, you appreciate the commitment that these guys put forth and all of that. But when you take a moment to reflect, like I’m doing right now, you think back to that moment when … like I said, you don’t have a job, you can’t get an interview, and you’re just trying to get back into the profession, never mind thinking about being here with an opportunity to go play for a national championship.
“So, I think that puts things into perspective, in that you appreciate the opportunities that you get. You appreciate the people that you’re around every day, and you try to pour into those people. And when you pour into them, sometimes you get results like this, and you get on teams like this, and you get to be part of special seasons like this.”
DeBoer can say the same.
After inheriting a 4-8 team in 2022, the 49-year-old coach has gone 24-2, engineering a rocket ship. He speedily installed one of college football’s most fearsome offenses — led by Heisman finalist quarterback Michael Penix Jr., wide receivers Rome Odunze, Ja’Lynn Polk and Jalen McMillan, and coordinator Ryan Grubb. In December, he claimed the final Pac-12 title, ousting Oregon (again). He earned the program’s (and the Pac-12’s) first playoff appearance since 2016, and an opportunity at Washington’s first national championship since 1991.
On this stage, the stakes are as huge as the spotlight is hot.
Can Washington weather it?
“There should be a few butterflies and probably more of an excitement to get to kickoff,” DeBoer said of his team’s temperament heading into the Sugar Bowl. “I think having done this for so many years, you get to that first snap, that first play, and then you just kick into coach mode, player mode, and you’re back to doing what you’ve done for hundreds of games. And so, obviously there’s more at stake, which makes it more exciting. And all the pageantry around the game certainly doesn’t get lost there.
“But, man, it comes down to playing the game when kickoff happens. And there’s excitement around it, but our guys are going to hopefully be in the mindset to just cut it loose and let it be and trust and believe in who we are and let the results take care of themselves.”
If the results are ultimately what Washington wants, there will be one more game to go. The second-ranked Huskies (13-0) will meet either No. 1 Michigan (13-0) or No. 4 Alabama (12-1) — the winner of the Rose Bowl — for a national championship date in Houston on Jan. 8.
But first, someone has to hold that trophy above his head.
The improbable pair must separate.
“It’s fascinating to think of the journey that I’ve been on to get to this point,” said Sarkisian, who has salvaged and restored his coaching career since being fired at USC in 2015. “But I’m hopeful that my story can serve as some sort of motivation to others. We don’t have to stay where we are in life. If we have our goals set on something and we do the next right thing and treat people well and work hard, be disciplined, be focused, hold yourself accountable, be committed to something, have some mental toughness to overcome the adversity that we have, we can change, right?
“Life can change. Life can change for the better. And that’s no different for our players, either. So hopefully I can serve as a little bit of a model of that, that we can change the narrative for ourselves and we can build towards something even greater than we have right now. And like I said, there was a moment where for sure I thought [I wouldn’t reach this stage]. But not anymore. Here we are.”
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