Kalen DeBoer’s first season on Montlake got off to a roaring start. Washington took the college football world by storm with four straight wins to open the year. Then it went on the road and things went a little haywire.

UW lost back-to-back games after climbing as high as 15th in the AP poll. First, it was a 40-32 defeat at UCLA. Then it was a 45-38 stunner against a struggling Arizona State team. The recurring theme: a leaky secondary.

Washington was badly bruised in the secondary in both instances, missing key players all over the defense. The Huskies’ starting secondary to open the year wasn’t all back together until the Cal game on Oct. 22. Guys kept coming in and out of the lineup because of injury.

When he met with reporters on Monday, DeBoer said the biggest takeaway from those early-season losses was that they’ll never be “that vulnerable” in the secondary again.

DeBoer and his staff are in a strong position to make good on that, too.

This staff has a certifiable reputation for offensive brilliance. Everywhere DeBoer has been, he’s crafted strong offenses which lead to winning football. The same is true in his first year at UW; transfer quarterback Michael Penix Jr. leads the country in passing yards and the wideout group looks like one of the deepest in the Pac-12.

That’s called proof of concept, and that sells itself on the recruiting trail. The offense is up and running. That lets the staff focus hard on bolstering defensive depth.

UW beat Oregon on Saturday to snap a three-game losing streak in the series, but doing so required an offensive explosion in the second half. Defense was optional with both teams cutting through each other’s secondaries. Coming out of the game, Washington ranks 116th in yards per pass allowed (8.2) and 120th in quarterback rating against.

Reinforcements on that side of the football will be key for DeBoer to build on his Year 1 success.