Jedd Fisch, Huskies’ Coaching Staff Busy on Nationwide Recruiting Trail
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DePaul Catholic quarterback Derek Zammit runs the ball during a regular season high school game. Credit: Derek Zammit/Instagram [/caption]
Spring practice may be over, and fall camp is months away, but that doesn’t mean the Washington Huskies football staff isn’t going all in with eyes on the future of the program.
With an increased recruiting department and coaching staff, Washington is turning over just about every rock at every high school in search of players who can help them compete for Big Ten titles in, well, the 2030s.
According the the 247Sports database and largely confirmed by the Emerald City Spectrum through the athletes’ social media posts, Jedd Fisch’s staff has made offers to almost 400 athletes with graduation dates ranging from 2026-2029. A class of 2029 student, in case you’re scoring at home, is still an eighth grader for a few more days or weeks. Much of the Huskies Class of 2025 signees enrolled early and participated in spring ball. Washington coaches have been on the road the last few weeks, making dozens of offers to players in every US time zone.
Here’s the number of players per class reportedly offered by UW as of May 17.
2025: 203 (27 signed)
2026: 229
2027: 128
2028: 35
2029: 1
That’s a significant difference from the Chris Petersen era. Almost like the philosophy behind proposing marriage, Petersen often wanted to be sure of the answer before he offered a football scholarship. He expected exclusivity – meaning that offer might be revoked if an athlete were to stray for a visit to another football program. At times, Petersen offered local players after the Ohio States and Oregons of the football world. Washington reportedly made 86 offers for the class of 2018, for example.
That’s probably not going to be the case with Fisch’s staff too often. Petersen offered one quarterback in 2019 – Dylan Morris of Graham-Kapowsin High School. Fisch, on the other hand, has reportedly offered 10 high school sophomore quarterbacks.
College coaches remain unable to speak about specific recruits, and are slow to speak publicly about specifics of their processes, often guarding it like grandma’s oatmeal cookie recipe. Fisch, though, has made it clear he still believes in building a football program through high school recruits.
Washington’s 2026 Class – consisting of 10 players committed so far – currently ranks 21st. The Huskies are likely to sign around 25 high school players for the class, so the race is only about half over.
Obviously, Washington is not going to sign 229 players in the 2026 class. Some will choose other schools. While coaches generally don’t pull back an offer for a player who has committed, offers can evaporate when a staff feels the position group is full for that class. And who knows where the lone Class of 2029 player offered so far will end up. Justin Suega, a 6-3, 185-pound eighth-grade receiver from Puyallup, Washington, has offers from Sacramento State and Arizona so far.
It would be fun, though, if 200 players called a coach at the same time declaring themselves committed. It is an awkward dance at times, for college programs and players to show interest, show respect, and ultimately do what they feel is best for themselves.
The Huskies reportedly offered 16 Class of 2026 quarterbacks. Typically, coaches will sign one signal caller per year, though Fisch signed two for 2025. Some of those dominoes fall into place by themselves. Ultimately, it was Derek Zammit from New Jersey who committed to Fisch on April 19.
BREAKING: Four-Star QB Derek Zammit has Committed to Washington, he tells me for @on3recruits
The 6’1 200 QB from Wayne, NJ chose the Huskies over Alabama, Syracuse, & Mississippi State
“Husky nation, I’m home.”https://t.co/9eSnWDqTln pic.twitter.com/k3s24ZRIMk— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) April 19, 2025
Though Fisch cannot comment on players who have not signed or enrolled, he did post this on the same day his quarterback from his home state of New Jersey reportedly committed to UW. It seems unlikely to be a coincidence.
New Jersey High School football has always been good to me!! pic.twitter.com/y02wxLIhDS— Jedd Fisch (@CoachJeddFisch) April 19, 2025
Fisch believes recruiting is going well at Washington.
"Yeah, I love it when people want to become Huskies," Fisch said during spring ball last month. "And it sounds like more and more that people want to become Huskies, and that's a fantastic thing for all of us. We'll continue to try and build our program through high school recruiting. That's a huge part and huge emphasis, and if we continue to be successful in high school recruiting, I think we're going to put ourselves in a position for long-term success."
Time will tell what recruiting rankings mean, and how successful coaches are in signing the right players. Sites such as 247Sports do their own scouting. Most of the ratings come from physical attributes such as size and speed, and projection about what an athlete might look like several years later. It’s an inexact science that doesn’t fully factor in things like work ethic and luck. It’s also how some under-the-radar athletes, like current Seahawks guard Grey Zabel and receiver Cooper Kupp, can go from a no-star recruit to an NFL player.
As Petersen did so well at UW, it will be up to Fisch to identify, attract, and develop the right people for his program to reach the heights they desire in the Big Ten.
