The Montlake Report: Huskies Gear Up for Fall Camp as 2026 Season Approaches
Closing in on the start of the 2026 college football season, the Washington Huskies hope to take the next step forward as a College Football Playoff contender in year three under coach Jedd Fisch.
Emerald City Spectrum reporter Aaron Coe breaks down what he heard from coaches and players at Media Day as the Huskies prepare for a new season with high expectations as Fisch returns with plenty of offensive firepower - including quarterback Demond Williams back under center - and intriguing defensive additions to the roster.
Huskies CB Dylan Robinson Ready to Build on Strong Freshman Season
There was no soft landing for Huskies cornerback Dylan Robinson during his first start last season.
He arrived on campus in June after graduating from Bonita H.S. (La Verne, Calif.), where he was mostly known as a wide receiver. By September, he was lining up as a defensive back against soon-to-be, two-time All-American Heisman candidate Jeremiah Smith. In a one-on-one interview with the Emerald City Spectrum at Washington’s media day on Tuesday, Robinson said he felt ready for the moment.
“It's everything that I wanted,” said Robinson, who played in 12 games, starting five in his first college season. “I'm not a person that shies away from competition, and [Smith] is some of the best of the best. So it was always a goal to come in freshman year and play the best comp that I could, and that was the opportunity.
Demond Williams Jr. Must Show Growth On and Off Field for Huskies to Reach Potential
Demond Williams Jr. turned 20 just a few months ago, but he’s no longer young by college football standards.
Entering his second full season as the unchallenged starting quarterback for a Washington Huskies football team with high expectations — for his play and the team’s — Williams must grow up quickly.
The “He’s young” days are over. He’s no longer the raw kid inserted into games as a true freshman before starting the final two games of the 2024 season. He’s not a first-time, full-time teenage starter behind center like he was in 2025.
Williams is a junior with 15 starts under his belt, earning $4-plus million — none of which can be used to buy excuses.
Jordan Washington Injury Situation Clarifies Huskies Running Back Room
The cloudy Washington Huskies running back situation received some clarity Thursday at the Big Ten Media Days in Chicago.
As long suspected, Jordan Washington will not be ready to join the team in August, and it will be “a reach” to play this season, head coach Jedd Fisch told On Montlake’s Christian Caple.
After leaving Husky Stadium in an ambulance on April 4 during the first week of spring football, the third-year running back remains in “major rehab-type, physical therapy,” Fisch told Caple while explaining that Washington remains hopeful to play football again.
Which Washington Huskies Could Hear Their Names Called in 2027 NFL Draft?
With less than six weeks until the college football season begins, NFL scouts and talent evaluators already have started to build their preliminary draft boards for 2027.
The Washington Huskies had a remarkable seven players drafted in 2026, despite only three (Jonah Coleman, Denzel Boston, Tacario Davis) showing up in mock drafts before the season began, a testament to the progress made in year No. 2 under coach Jedd Fisch and his staff.
Seven drafted Huskies was the most since 10 had their names called in 2024, which of course came after a birth in the College Football Playoff title game. Fisch’s ability to develop his players into NFL draftees is highlighted by his mantra “Be a Pro” that is plastered all over the team facilities on Montlake.
The players internalize and buy into this philosophy as noted by fourth-round draft pick Carver Willis, who said, “Playing for Washington was the best decision I ever made. I will forever love my time here. It absolutely helped. And my time here is something I hold in great regard... the people I’ve met here and the things I’ve learned here, we all preach ‘Be a Pro,’ how to be a pro.”
Huskies Receive Commitments from Pair of Coveted Offensive Linemen
The scales are officially tipped.
Washington added the biggest missing pieces to its 2027 class on Wednesday with the commitments of offensive linemen Gecova Doyal and Tye Kennedy.
Jedd Fisch’s strong recruiting class had been light on offensive linemen prior to Wednesday, when Doyal, a four-star interior lineman out of Puyallup and Tye Kennedy, son of former UW All-American Lincoln Kennedy, became the second and third o-linemen to commit to Washington’s 2027 group.
Jedd Fisch Believes 2026 ‘Trenches-Based’ Huskies are Ready to Win in Big Ten
Jedd Fisch arrived at Washington in 2024 to take over a former Pac-12 football team with remnants of a 2023 College Football Playoff championship game participant.
Heading into Year 3 in a new conference and a rebuilt roster, Fisch believes he’s got a Big Ten team.
Five O-Line Recruits, One Huge Weekend Upcoming for Huskies
Rolling out the red carpet as they continue to build an intriguing 2027 recruiting class, the Washington Huskies will try to reel in the foundation of their next great offensive line with coach Jedd Fisch hoping to end the official visit season with a clean sweep locking up top-tier prospects in the trenches.
Offensive line coach Michael Switzer has a chance to put his stamp on this latest recruiting class for the Huskies, with as many as four future Big Ten-caliber starters flying into town. After last year’s crop that brought in five-star left tackle Kodi Greene, UW hopes to be building the next front worthy of the Joe Moore Award, which they last won when they advanced to the National Championship Game in 2023.
Who will be on Montlake this upcoming weekend?
Huskies Land Blue-Chip Edge Recruit From Garden State
Dominant edge defenders don’t grow on the cherry trees in the University of Washington quad.
Jedd Fisch and the Huskies coaching staff reached far away from campus to find a potential pass rusher in Montvale, New Jersey, with the hopes that Chaz Gray, a Class of 2027 recruit out of St. Joseph Regional High School, will blossom when he arrives on Montlake next year. A three- or four-star recruit, depending upon which recruiting ratings one looks at, Gray chose Washington over Tennessee and Clemson on Tuesday.
Beating out Volunteers and Tigers for an East Coast prospect who also held offers from Ohio State and Penn State and at least 19 other programs shows that his 247Sports high three-star (0.89) rating may be one star lighter than the way Gray is regarded by college coaches.
Huskies Add Another Blue Chip Receiver Commit to Class of 2027
Washington Huskies receivers coach Kevin Cummings strikes again.
The UW caught its second blue chip receiver this week with the commitment of Dontay Tyson, a 6-3 four-star Class of 2027 recruit out Peoria (Ariz.) High School. Tyson is the second four-star receiver to commit to Cummings and head coach Jedd Fisch this week, joining Tre Moore, a 6-4 pass catcher out of Pluegerville, Texas, who made his choice on June 2.
It’s two additional big wins for Cummings, who already reeled in four-star Braylon Pope (Sumner, Wash.) and three-star Zerek Sidney (Desert Edge H.S., Goodyear, Ariz.) during the winter.
The Washington Huskies Mid-Season Stretch Could Determine 2026 College Football Fate
It’s easy to look at the Washington Huskies 2026 football schedule and skip to the end.
While the last two games — home against defending national champion Indiana and on the road at nemesis Oregon — could determine UW’s College Football Playoff fate, the Huskies have to get there first.
Washington begins the football season with three non-conference snoozers, and ends with the types of games UW has been unable to compete in under Fisch through two seasons. The seven games in the middle are all winnable — Washington could well be favored in six of them — but Big Ten games are rarely easy.
The bottom line is Washington must go 6-1 during that stretch to have any hope at its first CFP berth of head coach Jedd Fisch’s tenure.
The Montlake Report: Big Weekend on Tap as Huskies Welcome 2027 Recruits for Visits
Washington Huskies football gears up for a pivotal recruiting stretch as elite recruits arrive for key campus visits. Can four-star quarterback Blake Roscopf and edge prospect Chaz Gray be the cornerstones of a top-15 class?
Emerald City Spectrum reporter Aaron Coe spotlights high-profile visitors, including wide receiver Dante Tyson and cornerback Jalen Hill, and breaks down which positions are still lacking—most notably on the offensive line. With the Big Ten season looming, the Huskies’ strategy to bulk up in the trenches comes to the forefront as linemen like Reis Russell and Jacoby Doyle headline upcoming visit weekends. The show details recent roster additions, such as Joseph Peco, and assesses how recruiting momentum under Coach Fisch could shape the program’s future. Will Washington maintain its stronghold on in-state talent and flip late commits as signing day approaches?
Sunblock Required: Huskies Non-conference September Slate Scheduled for Daytime
Get your sunblock ready.
There will be no Dawgs after dark for the Washington Huskies football team during the first three home games.
The Big Ten announced TV times for the first three weeks of the season, and it includes a few anomalies for UW. First, there are no true night games for the Huskies during the first three weeks, which are all home non-conference games. And with college football starting the regular season a week before the NFL, the season-opening Apple Cup will be played on a Sunday, making it three games in 14 days at Husky Stadium.
More College Football is Good, So Washington Huskies' Fans Should Be All in on 24-Team Playoff
“Why do you hate football so much?”
I pulled myself away from aiming at the cue ball on a pool table at a long-since-gone sports bar called The Endzone along Highway 99 in Kent, Washington, and looked up to see if the old guy was talking to me.
I say “old,” but back in 1998, he was probably younger than I am now. He wore a Don James-style purple Huskies hat with a yellow “W,” and had the requisite 1990s goatee. He stared at me, awaiting my response. Turns out he’d heard my rant about college football bowl games. My buddies and I were in our mid-20s, back when we knew everything.
“Huh?” I asked.
“You said there are way too many bowl games,” he said. “Why do you hate football so much?”
O’Dea’s Tevita Nonu Latest Win as Huskies Look to Load Up on the Defensive Line
After three years of playing catch-up to build a defensive front capable of holding up in the Big Ten, the Washington Huskies appear to be loading up for the long term.
While head coach Jedd Fisch and defensive line coach Jason Kaufusi look far and wide for tall and wide bodies, the latest recruiting win is just a few miles from Huskies Stadium. Tevita Nonu, a 6-4, 270-pound Class of 2027 defensive lineman from O’Dea High School, committed to Washington on Tuesday.
Nonu chose Washington over Michigan, Notre Dame, Oregon and Arizona. This was a crucial win for UW.
Huskies Land Commitment From Coveted 2027 Offensive Line Target Reis Russell
The Washington Huskies football team received its first offensive lineman commitment from the Class of 2027 on Monday.
Reis Russell, a three-star interior line prospect from Valor Christian (Littleton, Colo.) chose UW over Georgia, Miami and USC. With recent additions of Russell and Glacier Peak (Snohomish, Wash.) tight end Zach Albright, Washington head coach Jedd Fisch’s 2027 class stands at No. 10 in the 247Sports composite rankings.
Defense Rules Huskies ‘Dawgs After Dark’ Spring Game
It was a beautiful night for some football, even if the football itself wasn’t always a potential pageant winner.
That’s the nature of spring football when a team is expected to have a good defense, as the Washington Huskies plan to roll out when the season begins against Washington State in the Apple Cup on Sept. 5.
With Corgi races, head coach Jedd Fisch playing emcee at times, a few guest kickers and some big plays on defense and offense, Purple got the better of Gold in Friday’s “Dawgs After Dark” spring game, 27-10 at Husky Stadium.
Most importantly, there was some actual football in Friday’s culmination of five weeks of spring football, and no apparent injuries.
‘No Ceiling’ for Huskies Sophomore Cornerback Dylan Robinson
Dylan Robinson’s first start was quite a Big Ten baptism last year.
With senior cornerback Tacario Davis sidelined by injury, it was up to the true freshman to start against No. 1 Ohio State in a sold-out Husky Stadium. It wouldn’t be accurate to call it a baptism by fire, though, because he never really got burned by the Buckeyes and their receiving corps of first-round picks.
“I knew that my plan was to come in freshman year, and everyone's dream is to play the biggest game,” said Robinson after UW’s 10th spring ball practice on Tuesday. “Ohio State was the number one in the nation at that time. So I was just really blessed and grateful to be in those shoes, and I was just trying to keep football football.”
Freshmen Ready to Seize Starting Roles for Huskies for 2026 Football Season
Not long ago, the thought of playing a true freshman left tackle or defensive lineman sounded like desperation or a potential disaster.
For the Jedd Fisch-led Washington Huskies football team — and more and more across college football — it’s becoming the norm. Many things have changed since Don James paced the sidelines at Husky Stadium. Among them is the philosophy of playing freshman, which he once humorously stated should be played “when they are seniors.”
There’s no time for that in modern-day college football. Players come in physically ready to contribute, and you never know how long they’ll be in the program. Coaches can either play them — while paying them — or spend time grooming them to potentially contribute another coach at another school.
Left tackle Kodi Greene and 17-year-old defensive tackle Derek Colman-Brusa headline a group of true freshmen who will contribute in meaningful ways to Washington’s 2026 season. They don’t look like freshmen who should be lining up dinner reservations for high school senior prom instead of against each other at Huskies spring ball and preparing for starting roles.
Washington Huskies Take Over Seahawks Practice Facility
Jedd Fisch’s “Be a Pro” mantra got a little extra flavor on Tuesday, as the Washington Huskies football team practiced at the Seahawks’ practice facility for Day 7 of spring football.
With rain showers threatening, and the softball team scheduled to use Dempsey Indoor practice facility according to a UW source, the Huskies loaded up buses and headed for the Virginia Mason Athletic Center. Fisch and the Seahawks seem to have a good working relationship, as evidenced by Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald’s recent appearance as a guest at UW’s Be a P.R.O. coaching clinic earlier this month. Washington leveraged that friendship for an apparent day-of change of venue, where the defense had a solid day near an opposite Lake Washington shoreline.
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