For the 3rd year in a row, I went to the Spokane Husky Alumni luncheon at the Spokane Club and got to interview both Damon Huard and UW radio play by play man Tony Castricone. Both men were very good interviews as usual, and I thank them for their time! Damon’s interview is up first!
This interview has been edited for clarity
MS: As a quarterback, what do you see in Demond Williams that makes you think that he’s the future of this program?
DH: I see a lot. He was a kid that Jedd had told me a lot about,
because we were thinking that Noah Fifita was coming with Jedd in the beginning when he got that job. It didn’t happen, and a big reason why it didn’t happen was because Jedd was like, I got a guy who’s better! When I tell you that Demond was the real deal and Jedd was spot on. He came in as a Freshman, and sure, we saw him take off and run, he’s arguably the fastest guy on the field. But what impressed me the most as a former quarterback was his command in the pocket! Even early on, watching him in spring ball as a Freshman, in training camp last year. His ability to sit in the pocket, go through his progression, make a read, make an accurate throw. In the old days when you said “Dual Threat quarterback”, it meant a guy could run but he couldn’t really throw. This guy, as good as he runs, he might even be a better thrower! Super fired up for this kid, 19 years old. He is the face of Husky football right now. You gotta have a quarterback in this conference to compete, and we do!
MS: Last year, we had a unique situation in the QB room, where we had Will Rogers and then Demond was openly singled out as the QB of the future. You have been on both sides of that because you learned behind Marino and Bledsoe and you were the older guy in KC. How does playing behind a veteran help a young QB like Demond learn the system, and what role does the veteran have to play?
DH: Well, first I’ll say Drew Bledsoe never helped me as an older guy. To count on a Coug, that was never gonna happen! Had to throw that in there, Drew’s a dear friend and that’s why I can talk some trash!
I know for me personally, the greatest thing to ever happen to me as a quarterback was to go to the Miami Dolphins and sit behind Dan Marino for 3 years. Not only to learn how to play the game, play the position, just how to be a pro, and how to be a teammate. The way that whole thing with Will and Demond went down last year, I don’t think it could’ve gone any better. I credit Jedd for that, actually. The way he brought along the young quarterback. Let him play in spurts, and by the end of the season he’s the starter, and clearly gave us the best chance to win! He comes off the bench, wins the UCLA game. The bowl game we lost, but he was phenomenal. I think Demond would probably say Will was a veteran, a guy who played a lot of college football, and a good guy in the room, and when it was Demond’s turn you saw how Will supported him. I think that is important. For me it was huge to have Dan Marino to really be that teacher, role model and he taught me how to be a pro and play the position.
MS: You played with some great running backs, Priest Holmes and Larry Johnson probably being the two best. In your perspective, is Jonah like those guys, and how does having a great running back take the pressure off of you when you’re trying to run the offense?
DH: There is no doubt that having a great running back, a great running game, makes everything so much easier for the quarterback. It slows down the pass rush, forces the defense into bringing extra run support, bring the safeties down into the box, and you get play action opportunities over the top. A quarterback’s best friend, in addition to his o-line, certainly is a workhorse of a running back! In 2006, I played the most of my career that year, had the best year, but it was also because Larry Johnson ran for 2000 yards. He was just a beast! Jonah Coleman to me, is that same guy, he can be a workhorse, but what I love about Jonah, a la Priest Holmes and some other really good backs I played with, Kevin Faulk with the Patriots, who played 15 years as a third down back, Jonah’s smart. Jonah is so smart! His blitz protection, his routes in the open field, he’s never fumbled the football over the course of his career. He’s just a well-rounded, smart football player, and those are the best running backs, they get it, they’re smart, and they’re a workhorse.
MS: Apparently Jonah’s only fumbled one time in 3 years.
DH: For the Dawgs?
MS: Yeah, I looked on ESPN, and apparently he fumbled during the Oregon game.
DH: I don’t remember that.
MS: I don’t remember that either!
DH: Okay, well, maybe once.
MS: With all the changes in the NIL space, what have your days in the athletic department been like trying to navigate this new world?
DH: Some rules were put in place July 1, now these athletic departments can share revenue with their players. Essentially there’s a salary cap in place and we can take revenue that we bring in as an athletic department and pay our players, and that’s a great thing! The NIL now is hopefully getting to a place where it can be more in-house, which, we have Dawgs Unleashed, which used to be Montlake Futures. Every deal now made, needs to be through a business transaction. It can’t be a pool of donors, putting their money together, having Demond over at a birthday party and giving him 50 grand. Those days are over! Every sport, every league, every organization that competes in America has rules, laws and regulations. So now, we think things will be a little bit more fair, NIL deals will be what they’re supposed to be, we’ll market name, image and likeness deals, where you might do a car commercial and get paid or something for another company. So, I think now with some laws in place, it’s going to make things easier for our department, also maybe help with the competitive balance. We’re obviously very fortunate here at UW to be able to pay our kids and have the resources to do that but a lot of schools can’t. So hopefully this levels the playing field a little bit with that salary cap, and NIL with a little more regulation will be better!
Once again, my sincerest thanks to Damon Huard for his time and the great interview! Stayed tuned for Tony Castricone’s interview in a few weeks!
