The Steve Sarkisian era is now complete. He was the Head Coach of the Washington Huskies from 2009-2013 and was 34-29 as the head coach. But now there is something even more exciting happening up in Seattle, Washington. There is a new level of interest for the new head coach because of his previous success with the Boise State Broncos. He went 92-12 as their coach and it is nobody other than Chris Petersen. So before all the extreme hype for the season to come, a review of the 2013 results is in order.

Offense

The offense is led by Jonathan Smith, the offensive Coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Smith had joined Petersen in Boise after having success as the offensive coordinator at the University of Montana in 2010 and 2011. Smith helped lead Boise State to a 11-2 record in 2012 and all the Boise State quarterbacks averaged a 70% completion percentage in 2013, despite an injury to their starting quarterback Joe Southwick.

Keith Price was the starting quarterback for the Washington Huskies last season. He had been their starter for the past 3 years, but then graduated this Spring. Price was signed as an undrafted costless agent by the Seahawks after the draft but has since been released. He put up just under 3,000 passing yards and had 21 touchdowns. His heir apparent at the quarterback position is Cyler Miles, a redshirt Sophomore from Centennial, Colorado. Miles played in a few games last year, throwing for 418 yards and 4 touchdowns while allowing only 2 interceptions. He also ran for 200 yards including a 61 yard run against Idaho State. Cyler should be an elite level quarterback and provide a dual threat option at quarterback which Price didn't really offer, despite him running for 5 touchdowns.

Sophomore Dwayne Washington is the leading returning rusher for the Huskies. Of course, they had Bishop Sankey as the leading rusher, going for 1,870 yards rushing and 20 touchdowns, plus 304 receiving yards in 2013. Dwayne Washington ran for 332 yards and 4 touchdowns last year and Senior Deontae Cooper ran for 270 yards and 3 touchdowns. They will be in a battle for who is the top man in the Huskies backfield. Cooper's best game was against Oregon State, when he had 166 yards on 11 carries and 2 touchdowns. Washington's best game was also against Oregon State, when he used 11 carries for 141 yards and 2 touchdowns. It will be interesting to see exactly which player is the best and if Petersen is looking for something different at the running back position.

Speedy wide receiver, Jaydon Mickens, will be back as the top receiving threat for the Huskies again. He didn't lead the team in receiving yards or receiving touchdowns, but he did lead Washington in receptions. He scored 2 touchdowns against California while getting 6 catches and 180 yards. The top receivers that are gone are tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins, who was a top draft pick, and wide receiver Kevin Smith is also no longer on the team. Mickens is 5'11" and 171 pounds. So he should be able to thrive in any offense similar to Brandin Cooks from Oregon State.

Defense

Marcus Peters is the top returning player on the defense of the Washington Huskies. Currently being projected as a late second round pick, he had 55 tackles, 1 sack, 5 interceptions, 2 forced fumbles and a fumble recovery he ran back 53 yards for a touchdown. He is going to be a force to be reckoned with in the Pacific 12 North as Washington tries to dethrone Stanford and Oregon as the top teams in the North.

The other top player on the defense is an outside linebacker Hau'oli Kikaha from Hawaii. He is on the preseason look list for the Bednarik award because last year he recorded 13 sacks. He also recorded 70 total tackles and 3 forced fumbles. Kikaha is coached by Defensive Coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski. Pete Kwiatkowski had coached the Boise State Broncos defense for the previous four years. Over the past four years, the Broncos defense has been great, allowing an average of 18 points per game. It will be interesting to see if the great defense he started in the Mountain West will move over to the Pacific 12.

Special Teams

The special teams of the Washington Huskies is led by Jeff Choate, who had formerly been with Chris Peterson at Boise State from 2006-2011 and then was at Washington State in 2012 and Florida in 2013. Jeff Choate was the Special Teams Coordinator during his tenure at Boise State, and helped Kyle Wilson and the unit return 3 touchdowns during his time there.

2014 Season Outlook

Hopes are high in Seattle, since it seems like the Huskies are looking up with new additions and a new coaching staff, but at the same time, the Huskies lost a lot of talent to the NFL last year. The Washington Huskies have four National Titles and they would love to be in the running for another one soon. However, the Huskies have lost 10 in a row to Oregon and that's a win that would need to happen soon before they can get put in the next level category. Here's a look at the schedule that the Huskies have in 2014:

It will be interesting to see if they can do any better than they did this previous season when they went 9-4. Stanford, Oregon, and UCLA are definitely the toughest opponents on the schedule. If the Huskies could win one of those to go 11-2 that would be excellent. But it seems like they are likely to go around 9-4 or 8-5 as they transition into a new coaching staff.