Football: D-B's Zach Durfee defies the odds
Dec. 20—DAWSON — Zach Durfee knows his path to college football is nothing close to picture perfect.
The 2020 Dawson-Boyd grad was going to play basketball at Division III Gustavus Adolphus College. He changed course and went to North Dakota State as a student, then went back home to Dawson for the second semester.
Still having a desire to play college sports, he sent emails to college football coaches despite playing just one game his senior year in high school due to injury. Division II Sioux Falls took a chance on Durfee as a walk-on and he became one of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference's most feared defensive linemen as a redshirt freshman despite never playing the position before.
Entering the transfer portal, Durfee's unbeaten path now is leading him to Seattle.
On Friday, Durfee announced on Twitter he'd be transferring to the University of Washington. He has three years of eligibility remaining.
"Man, it's just been a blessing, really; it's the kind of stuff you dream of as a kid," Durfee said on Monday. "It wasn't where straight out of high school I was a five-star recruit or anything like that.
"All my hard work paying off has been one of the coolest parts, but it's just been a whirlwind. I don't know if I would ever have expected it but I definitely believed it was a possibility."
Ranked 12th in the country, Washington was 10-2 and finished second in the Pac-12 Conference. They'll play No. 20 Texas in the Valero Alamo Bowl on Thursday, Dec. 29 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
The Huskies' second-year coach Kalen DeBoer has roots at Durfee's previous school. DeBoer was a receiver for USF, then eventually became head coach of the Cougars from 2005-09.
Durfee chose Washington over Minnesota, Iowa State, North Dakota State and North Dakota.
"I was really just searching for somewhere with a good culture and good coaching," Durfee said. "It's a good atmosphere for me to ultimately succeed on and off the field. And after taking my visit to Washington, I just realized that was exactly the place for that to happen."
D-B football coach Cory Larson said he's used to getting phone calls from D-III, NAIA and occasionally D-II schools about his athletes. But nothing has been like getting calls from D-I coaches wanting to know more about the former Blackjack.
"It was kind of fun from my perspective ... there were phone calls from all over the country," Larson said. "It's pretty crazy how insane that transfer portal is.
"It's a pretty amazing transformation that Zach has gone through; it's just a cool experience. I hope he enjoys it out on the west coast."
Seen as a project at defensive end, Durfee "fell in love" with the weight room during his redshirt season at Sioux Falls. He gained 30 pounds, getting up to 250 to go with his 6-foot-5 frame.
"When I first heard that they wanted me to play defensive line, I was a little like 'I wish I could maybe play on offense,'" Durfee said. "But I kind of realized that, you know, this is my chance, I'm going to take it and I'm going to run with it."
Then he had to figure out the nuances of line play. It was virgin territory after being a quarterback, wide receiver and safety in high school. At the start, Durfee admitted he didn't know how to get in a proper three-point stance.
"In the trenches in the game of football, it's just a completely different game," Durfee said. "You always have to use your hands and you're fighting with offensive linemen and they're fighting with you. It's completely different getting used to the physicality there."
In the Cougars' season opener against Minnesota State-Moorhead, Durfee's debut was undeniable. He had four sacks, forced two fumbles and had six tackles (four for loss) in the 27-14 USF win.
"That was pretty big for my confidence," Durfee said. "I believed in myself during the redshirt year and that fall camp leading up to that first game. But you never really know until game time. ... that ultimately allowed me to have the success during the year because I never really looked back."
For the 8-3 Cougars, Durfee had 28 tackles (13.5 for loss) and 11.5 sacks on the way to being named First Team All-Defense in the NSIC South Division.
"He has some athletic tools that a lot of kids don't and now that he's kind of figured out the mental side of things and just the effort that you need to give at that level, it was fun to watch this year," Larson said.
On Friday, Larson got a text from Zach's dad, Jerry, asking if the coach looks good in purple and gold. Knowing his former player is headed west, Larson will have to adjust.
"All those games are on past my bedtime on the weekends ... it's going to be hard for me to watch the whole game," Larson joked.
With plenty of twists and turns along the way, Durfee hopes to continue defying expectations with the Huskies.
"I wasn't really sure if I wanted to do basketball or football, but I ultimately emailed a few coaches and football (at USF) hit me back," Durfee said. "That ultimately ended up being the course I was going to take. And it's just been pretty crazy ever since."
