Huskies Land Two More Commits as 2026 Class Continues to Show Promise
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Faith Lutheran High School safety Gavin Day verbally committed to Jedd Fisch’s Washington Huskies along with fellow Las Vegas recruit Dominic Harris. Credit: Gavin Day/Instagram [/caption]
SEATTLE, Wash. — Jedd Fisch’s fortified recruiting staff seems to be paying some early dividends for the future of the Washington Huskies football program.
Entering his second season at the helm, Fisch picked up two more commitments for the Class of 2026 over a weekend that included 16 official visitors, according to 247sports.com.
The non-binding, verbal commitments came from a pair of players from Las Vegas: Gavin Day, a 6-3, 190-pound safety from Faith Lutheran High School, and Dominic Harris, a 6-8, 335-pound offensive tackle out of Ed W. Clark.
Other commits may soon follow, as 247Sports currently has four other players with “Crystal Ball” picks to choose Washington. I would expect a couple of additional commitments in the coming days as the class continues to add quality talent.
As of June 3, UW’s 2026 class, which includes 11 players, ranks 20th in the country in 247Sports’ composite rankings. That can of course change over the next several months when Washington will likely more than double that player count. If the Huskies keep landing players in the high 3-star and 4-star range, that final ranking could land in the low teens. That would be impressive for Fisch’s second full class.
I’ll admit, I caught myself doing a little bit of an eye roll when Fisch said this on 710 KIRO Radio nearly a year ago.
"I challenged our staff, I said, 'I want the class of 2025 to be the best recruiting class Washington has ever had. To do that, for the next 365 days, we have to be on overdrive. Once we get that done, we're going to play freshmen. Once you play freshmen and you show high school kids you'll play freshmen, more high school kids will come. And once you play freshmen, your sophomores and juniors, like what happened at Arizona, become teams that can win 10 games."
That 2025 class fell short of the best-ever, but 23rd in the first full year was a pretty nice pull. The highest ranking this century, during modern recruiting rankings, is considered to be Chris Petersen’s 2019 class, which ranked 15th. That class followed three straight New Year’s 6 bowl games. Fisch’s 2026 class follows a 6-7 season in 2024, and TBD in 2025. Since signing the 2025 class, Fisch has added Matt Doherty, senior director of player personnel, and a host of other staff members focused on recruiting.
It seems to be working.
It’s not absurd to think that — if Fisch can reel in a few more big fish — the 2026 class could challenge that 2019 recruiting haul.
That does leave some work to complete, and much of it will happen in June with a couple more big official visit weekends coming before things go pretty quiet in July and August. The sheer number of commits significantly impacts the total ranking. That means the more players, the higher the score. Currently, 16 of the 19 schools ranked above Washington have more commits than the Huskies, which leaves UW some room to move up the list. My guess is Fisch will land somewhere around 16-18. The class will be pretty well set in the late fall.
The latest commits
Day is a hard-hitting safety who appears worthy of his four stars. He’s got the athleticism to cover, but looks like a future box safety. He could also fill out more over the next couple of years and end up as a linebacker. While roster construction is hard to predict, I would not be at all surprised to see Day play a role as a true freshman once he gets on campus.
Harris is a high three-star tackle, whose total score of 88 puts him very close to the 90 required to be bumped up to four. At just a hair under 6-8 and all of 335 pounds, Harris has the size Fisch is looking for to compete in the Big Ten. Watching some tape, he looks like he moves well enough to play tackle and may be deserving of that extra star. It’s easy to suggest he’d play right tackle in a couple of years while Kodi Greene, UW’s lone 2026 5-star recruit so far, would play on the left side. Harris was being pursued by Oregon, among others. Greene recently flipped his commitment from Oregon to Washington.
Visits mean nothing… but they also mean something
Official visits — and verbal commitments for that matter (and to a degree, signings in the current college football transfer world) do not mean anything on the surface. But, modern day college football recruits often follow each other on social media and get to know one another during football camps, 7-on-7 competitions, and other events. So, each time a high-level recruit travels to Montlake, it’s a little advertisement for Husky Football. While Brandon Arrington, a 5-star (98 score) recruit ranked as the No. 1 2026 cornerback, may be a longshot to choose Washington over offers from virtually everyone, his visit to UW — which included five posts by the elite sprinter on his X account — likely raised a few eyebrows among recruits. Especially the one that reads, “Don’t sleep on Washington in my recruiting process.”
How I look ??👀👀☔️ pic.twitter.com/qTffDln3pV— Brandon “Dash”Arrington jr 5 🌟 (@brandonjubie2) June 1, 2025
What’s so great about the 2026 class?
The best programs typically get the best recruits, and teams in the College Football Playoff semifinals typically have the most 4 and 5-star recruits. Of course, sometimes top recruits turn into non-contributors, and there are three stars and no stars in the NFL. Personally, I like to see what the quarterback looks like, and how each class shakes out for offensive and defensive linemen. There was much excitement in 2000 when Washington’s Rick Neuheisel signed a strongly-rated class, but that had much to do with top receivers Reggie Williams and Charles Frederick. That class had sizzle, but not much steak — and not enough wins for the next few years.
While the 2026 class could use more beef, getting two big offensive tackles and quarterback Derek Zammit is a great start. Landing the No. 1 recruit in Washington, edge Derek Colman-Brusa also looms large. The class includes Ah Deong Yang, a 6-3, 343-pound defensive tackle, three cornerbacks, Day at safety, a running back, and a kicker. Though UW has several 2025 receivers, Fisch will undoubtedly want a couple in the 2026 corps. The Huskies haven’t signed a linebacker yet, and will of course want to build the other position groups to ultimately land around 23-25 players.
It will be interesting to see the final class and where it’s ranked. Feel free to throw your guess in the comments.
