Are we back?
Not quite, but we’re almost there, as the Huskies took the stage at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas for Big Ten media day today. Here are some key takeaways from Coach Fisch’s presser and the interviews with the Big Ten network crew as the season is almost upon us!
What A Difference A Year Makes
As I listened to Coach Fisch’s presser, my mind kept going back to what he said at last year’s media day, which was that in that rebuilding year, he wanted “our team to be the hardest opponent that everybody plays. I want our opponents
to feel like they left that game and they played two games in a row.”
It’s clear that the vision has shifted this year. And with 11 returning starters on both sides of the ball, and just one starter transferring out (corner Thaddeus Dixon, transferring to UNC), it is very evident that this is a point of pride for the Huskies, but for Fisch in particular. “The rest of our team either has moved on through graduation or are back, and that’s a huge credit to the culture of our assistant coaches and our program.”
With that shift in vision comes higher expectations, something that Fisch clearly has instilled in these Dawgs. Coach Fisch said, “We are going to make sure that everything we do, we do it at the highest level, we do it every day, and we compete for championships and make University of Washington proud.”
New Hires
This offseason also saw the promotion and hiring of new assistant coaches. Jimmie Dougherty was promoted to OC after being QB coach last year. Fisch also made mention of special teams coordinator Chris Petrilli, emphasizing his importance to this team’s success, stating “for the first time in my career, other than in the NFL, to have two people designated strictly to coach special teams, in this conference I think is critical to the success of our program.” Considering how noticeably bad the kick coverage was last season, I, for one, echo this sentiment!
But the most talked about staff hire for the Huskies this offseason was former Purdue head coach Ryan Walters being brought in as the defensive coordinator. Fisch made a note to emphasize that the chief factors in his hiring of Walters were his head coaching experience (as 4 of the CFP teams had former head coaches on staff as assistants), and Walters’ scheme, which shifts from a 3-4 to a 5-2 front at regular intervals. Even Fisch was flummoxed by the scheme, as he told the Big Ten Network, “I asked him, ‘is this like a 3-4 or a 5-2, I’m confused’. He said ‘yeah that’s the point’.” With 2 corners over 6’4” (the returning Ephesians Prysock and the all Big 12 Arizona transfer Tacario Davis), Fisch said that us fans will be seeing a lot of Cover 1 looks.
We’ll see whether or not Walters can take UW’s defense to the heights that his Illini defense soared to. In any case, we’re set up fairly well to do that, in terms of personnel. I think it’s a matter of how the new scheme will look, and whether it’s a fit.
They’re Back!
For all the question marks about the look of the defense, both in scheme and personnel, there was an equal amount of optimism about the returning production on offense. Jonah Coleman, Denzel Boston and Demond Williams were all mentioned by Fisch as not only standout players, but also standout young men. And even the backup running backs behind Jonah, Adam Mohammed and Jordan Washington, were all mentioned as possible contributors. Speaking to the Big Ten Network, Fisch emphasized the fact that we have 4 guys who are running threats as key to the Huskies’ success on offense this year. With Demond, he said, “it’s very different when you have a quarterback that...threatens the defense every time he pulls the ball”.
But all that talent means nothing if you don’t have the big boys up front doing their job, something that we struggled with a bit last year. Coach Fisch feels that we’re in a better spot, with returning starters (Landen Hatchett, Drew Azzopardi), power conference transfers (Carver Willis, Geirean Hatchett) and some great competition at the guard spots.
This all adds up to higher expectations, something that manifested in Coach Fisch projecting a big leap for Demond Williams, which I think is a reasonable expectation, given where we are in terms of development, and that goes for the whole roster!
Extra Things
- Some injury news from Fisch, this sucks for Davis, who was poised for a breakout, and for Wright, who was fighting for snaps:
. @UW_Football coach @CoachJeddFisch just notified the media that EDGE Russell Davis and DB Rahim Wright will be be out for the season due to offseason surgery...@Dawgman247 @Chris_Fetters @KimGrinolds @aaronwbeach @JackMcCauley_ #GoHuskies
— Scott Eklund (@ScottEklund) July 23, 2025
"The way they support us and ride with us is all you can ask for at a college."
— Big Ten Football (@B1Gfootball) July 23, 2025
Jonah Coleman feels the love from @UW_Football fans #B1GFootball pic.twitter.com/Ma11L309kF
We have the home opener in a late game on August 30th against Colorado State! Go Dawgs!
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- Friday Dots: Will the Huskies find snaps for all their running backs?
- Husky Softball pulls off legendary comeback to finish statement sweep at Utah
- Dots: Comeback Kids
- Friday Dots: Who are the Huskies’ top draft prospects for 2018?
- Dots: Ross inks Rookie deal with Bengals
- Dots: Madden-ing
