News

Feb 20, 2024

Pride of the Huskies: Time to Tip a Hat to Washington Director of Athletics, Jen Cohen

by Apart from winning a national championship, guiding the University of Washington from the dying Pac-12 to the B1G Conference might be Director of Athletics Jen Cohen’s crowing achievement. In her

by

Apart from winning a national championship, guiding the University of Washington from the dying Pac-12 to the B1G Conference might be Director of Athletics Jen Cohen’s crowing achievement.

In her position there’s been a ton of trial-by-fire. Her predecessor did not leave her a bookmark in the owner’s manual about how to transition from one major conference to another or how to handle a pandemic.

In fact, her predecessor sandbagged her with sleight-of-hand bookkeeping that she was able to recover from.

When she took the reins she told me that the reason she dusted off the old monicker “Purple Reign” she wanted to have former Washington head coach Don James’ family atmosphere around the athletic department.

The way that Half of Fame Coach James, her former Pen Pal turned mentor, treated every person, from the one sweeping the floors at night all the way up to the university president, would be treated and equally.

Now 6 years later and she’s in her finest hour, ushering in a new era of athletics on the shores of Lake Washington as the Huskies usher in a new era in 2024.

She’s on her third head football coach. She made the very difficult decision to fire two head coaches. She’s on her second basketball and possibly a third there also depending on the result this season.

In total she’s officially hired 11 head coaches across the department. That number doesn’t include national coach of the year, Chris Petersen who she was instrumental in bringing to Montlake.

Track and Field has never been hotter. Softball’s Heather Tarr has produced the 10th best winning percentage in D-1. Women’s basketball is on the rebound. To name a few.

But along the way, the woman who as a little girl, used to greet Coach James at the tunnel before home games, and greet opponents with her loudest “Wooof” as they entered the field of play, has not forgotten the “University” part of Washington.

The department’s academic standing has never been higher. In fact, football recently posted a four-year, NCAA-FBS record score of 999 to lead the conference for the third straight year.

Across the entire athletic programs Washington sports a 3.38 GPA.

This is her golden hour.

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