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There is no doubting that Washington Huskies head coach Jedd Fisch has taken on his team as he heads into his third year.
Whether the current cumulation of talent is enough to increase the Huskies’ win total again in 2026 remains to be seen, but early polling suggests it will have to be a prove-it season with the team coming in at No. 27 in a recent post-spring re-rank by USA TODAY.
Similarly, in a separate way-too-early Top 25 poll released by USA Today, UW wasn’t ranked despite beating Boise State—ranked No. 25 in the poll—in the Bucked Up LA Bowl this past December, and finished with more victories in year two under Fisch than Penn State (No. 16), LSU (No. 17), Tennessee (No. 20) and Florida State (No. 22) did in 2025.
While the two higher-ranked of those four schools also hired new coaches in Matt Campbell from Iowa State to Happy Valley and Lane Kiffin from Ole Miss to Baton Rouge, the Volunteers reportedly unsuccessfully tried to lure second-year defensive coordinator Ryan Walters from Montlake to Knoxville, and the Seminoles finished 5-7 overall under Mike Norvell, his second consecutive losing season after going 2-10 in 2024.
In both years, ranked as high as No. 10 and No. 7, respectively, at one point in the season, based on the Associated Press Top 25 poll, but ended the season unranked each year. During that time, Fisch took the Huskies from a six-win team in his first season in 2024 to nine wins last season with sophomore quarterback Demond Williams Jr. at the controls.
While the Huskies lost a decent amount of production from last year's team with leading wide receiver Denzel Boston and starting running back Jonah Coleman, along with senior edge rusher Zach Durfee and both starting cornerbacks, Tacario Davis and Ephesians Prysock, to the 2026 NFL draft, Fisch and Co. return 61 players from '25 and added key transfer additions on both sides of the ball to offset the losses.
In his first season as UW's starting signal-caller, Williams Jr. finished sixth in the Big Ten last season with 235.8 passing yards per game. However, the former Basha High School prized quarterback came roughly 14 yards shy of USC quarterback Jayden Maiava with an average of 282.8 total yards per game, a number that could rise once again this fall if everything works as planned for Fisch and Co.
The difference will come at running back with the Huskies replacing both key contributors, sophomore Adam Mohammed and Coleman, with a pair of transfers, ex-Oregon senior Jayden Limar and former Louisville, Georgia Tech, and Troy veteran Trey Cooley, along with a mix of underclassmen, including four-star freshman Brian Bonner and returning redshirt freshman Quaid Carr.
Defensively, if Walters and the rest of the staff can generate enough production from the pass rush by committee approach, the secondary and linebacker starters and depth should prove more worthy of top 25 consideration with the ex-Purdue coach known for making significant strides in his second season at a school.
This article originally appeared on Huskies Wire: Washington Huskies on outside looking in at USA TODAY Top 25
Continue reading...
Whether the current cumulation of talent is enough to increase the Huskies’ win total again in 2026 remains to be seen, but early polling suggests it will have to be a prove-it season with the team coming in at No. 27 in a recent post-spring re-rank by USA TODAY.
Similarly, in a separate way-too-early Top 25 poll released by USA Today, UW wasn’t ranked despite beating Boise State—ranked No. 25 in the poll—in the Bucked Up LA Bowl this past December, and finished with more victories in year two under Fisch than Penn State (No. 16), LSU (No. 17), Tennessee (No. 20) and Florida State (No. 22) did in 2025.
While the two higher-ranked of those four schools also hired new coaches in Matt Campbell from Iowa State to Happy Valley and Lane Kiffin from Ole Miss to Baton Rouge, the Volunteers reportedly unsuccessfully tried to lure second-year defensive coordinator Ryan Walters from Montlake to Knoxville, and the Seminoles finished 5-7 overall under Mike Norvell, his second consecutive losing season after going 2-10 in 2024.
In both years, ranked as high as No. 10 and No. 7, respectively, at one point in the season, based on the Associated Press Top 25 poll, but ended the season unranked each year. During that time, Fisch took the Huskies from a six-win team in his first season in 2024 to nine wins last season with sophomore quarterback Demond Williams Jr. at the controls.
While the Huskies lost a decent amount of production from last year's team with leading wide receiver Denzel Boston and starting running back Jonah Coleman, along with senior edge rusher Zach Durfee and both starting cornerbacks, Tacario Davis and Ephesians Prysock, to the 2026 NFL draft, Fisch and Co. return 61 players from '25 and added key transfer additions on both sides of the ball to offset the losses.
In his first season as UW's starting signal-caller, Williams Jr. finished sixth in the Big Ten last season with 235.8 passing yards per game. However, the former Basha High School prized quarterback came roughly 14 yards shy of USC quarterback Jayden Maiava with an average of 282.8 total yards per game, a number that could rise once again this fall if everything works as planned for Fisch and Co.
The difference will come at running back with the Huskies replacing both key contributors, sophomore Adam Mohammed and Coleman, with a pair of transfers, ex-Oregon senior Jayden Limar and former Louisville, Georgia Tech, and Troy veteran Trey Cooley, along with a mix of underclassmen, including four-star freshman Brian Bonner and returning redshirt freshman Quaid Carr.
Defensively, if Walters and the rest of the staff can generate enough production from the pass rush by committee approach, the secondary and linebacker starters and depth should prove more worthy of top 25 consideration with the ex-Purdue coach known for making significant strides in his second season at a school.
This article originally appeared on Huskies Wire: Washington Huskies on outside looking in at USA TODAY Top 25
Continue reading...
