When Kalen DeBoer's coaching staff took over at the University of Washington in 2022, one of the first things it did was make Alphonzo Tuputala a starting linebacker for the first time. They liked his physicality, discipline and determination.
A year ago, Tuputala had a new starting partner in Edefuan Ulofoshio, healthy again after two years of injuries and surgeries, and Ulofosho proceeded to turn in a first-team All-Pac-12 linebacker performance. Coming off the bench once more, Bruener showed he could play at a high level and enjoyed his own All-Pac-12 honorable-mention showing.
While the 6-foot-2, 240-pound Tuputala from Federal Way, Washington, is to be commended for his longevity -- his 27 Husky starts are 10 more than his next closest teammate, cornerback Elijah Jackson -- some people still wonder why DeBoer's staff so adamantly preferred him over Bruener, who are almost carbon copies, especially after Jimmy Lake's coaches used them in reverse order in 2021.
By now, Tuputala is used to having to prove himself. He came to the Huskies as the least heralded of four linebackers in the 2019 class with Daniel Heimuli, Josh Calvert and Miki Ah You. He's the only one who stuck around the program to the end, let alone made it as a full-time UW starter. Heimuli transferred to Arizona and more recently to Georgia State, Calvert is finishing up at Utah and Ah You is out of football.
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