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Preview: UW starts new year with new defensive staff

A scoreboard shows final of the Alamo Bowl game between Baylor and Washington. Baylor pulled out a thrilling victory in the highest-scoring bowl game in history. Not long after the game, UW overhauled its defensive coaching staff.
Darren Abate
/
AP Photo
A scoreboard shows final of the Alamo Bowl game between Baylor and Washington. Baylor pulled out a thrilling victory in the highest-scoring bowl game in history. Not long after the game, UW overhauled its defensive coaching staff.

Being part of the highest-scoring bowl game in history was hardly a distinction for University of Washington defensive coordinator Nick Holt. 

The 67-56 loss to Baylor in the Alamo Bowl was the last in a series of defensive flops that cost him his job.The 2012 Pac-12 football schedule has just come out. It includes a lot of tough games for the Huskies, including a match-up with No. 1 LSU. How will the new defensive coaching staff meet the challenge?

KPLU sports commentator Art Thiel weighs in on the changes in the UW football program tomorrow morning at 5:35 and 7:35 on 88.5 KPLU. Check back here for a blog of our conversation.

Kirsten Kendrick hosts Morning Edition on KNKX and the sports interview series "Going Deep," talking with folks tied to sports in our region about what drives them — as professionals and people.
Art Thiel is a co-founder and writer for the rising sports website Sportspress Northwest. In 2003 Thiel wrote the definitive book about the Seattle Mariners, “Out of Left Field,” which became a regional bestseller. In 2009, along with Steve Rudman and KJR 950 afternoon host Mike Gastineau, Thiel authored “The Great Book of Seattle Sports Lists,” a cross between historylink.org and Mad Magazine that has become mandatory reading for any sports fan who has an indoor bathroom.