Washington football’s sneakiest 2024 transfer portal move after Jedd Fisch hire

The Washington football team is coming off of one of the best seasons that they have ever had. This was the last season that the Huskies, and nine other schools, were part of the Pac-12 conference, and the final football season with all of the teams together did not disappoint. Washington and Oregon highlighted the talented conference, and the two teams played in two great games during the season. The Huskies ended up getting the better of the Ducks in both of those matchups, and that helped them get all the way to the national title game. Let’s run through what’s happened with the program in the past few months before we dive into transfer portal talks.

Back in October, Washington football and Oregon were both undefeated and set for a huge clash that would put the winner in prime position to run the table in the conference and finish the regular season undefeated. The Ducks and Huskies met in Seattle for the big matchup, and it came down to the final play. Oregon had a chance to tie things up and send the game into overtime on a field goal that happened as time expired, but the kicked missed, and the Huskies survived the difficult test.

After that, Washington didn’t look as dominant as they had looked in the first part of the season, and despite the loss, Oregon was starting to look like the best team in the Pac-12. The Huskies kept winning, but they got quite a few scares down the stretch. Still, they managed to win out and finish the regular season with a perfect 12-0 record. Oregon also ran the table after losing to the Huskies, but they looked dominant doing so. The loss seemed to be a big wake up call for the Ducks, and after winning out, a rematch was set for the Pac-12 title game.

The rematch between Oregon and Washington was an interesting one. The Huskies were undefeated and they had already beaten Oregon at this point in this season. However, the Ducks were favored in the game. That wasn’t really the surprising part, though. Oregon had looked very good in the back half of the season while Washington looked a bit sloppy. The surprising part was that the Ducks were favored by 9.5. That number seemed way too big, especially since Washington had already beaten Oregon. It might’ve given the Huskies some motivation going into the game, because they brought out one of their best performances of the season.

Washington football was a big underdog in the Pac-12 title game, but it didn’t matter. Michael Penix Jr. gave one last Heisman push in the game as he led his team to another huge victory over another Heisman contender. He didn’t end up winning the award, but the Huskies did end up winning the Pac-12 title and getting their record to 13-0. The perfect season earned Washington a spot in the College Football Playoff as the #2 seed, and they went to the Sugar Bowl to take on Texas in the CFP semifinals.

The College Football Playoff semis did not disappoint this season. Washington and Texas battled it out in the Sugar Bowl, and that game also came down to the last play. It was clear while watching the game that the Huskies were the better team, but some late mistakes let the Longhorns get back in the game, and it ended up coming down to the wire. Washington was able to get a stop on the last play of the game, however, and that locked them up a spot in the national title game against Michigan.

It was a great season for the Huskies, but Michigan was just too much for the Huskies to handle in the national title game. The Wolverines got out to a big lead early, and while Washington started to play much better on defense, their offense was never able to get anything going against Michigan’s top defense. The Wolverines scored 14 points in the first quarter, and the Huskies scored just 13 points in the entire game. Michigan went on to win 34-13.

Washington had a great season, but their offseason has not gone so well. The Huskies are losing most of their production from this season, and they also lost their head coach. Nick Saban decided to retire after this season, and Kalen DeBoer is now the head coach of the Alabama football team. The Huskies made a ton of progress to get near the top of the college football world, and it seems like a lot of that progress is now lost.

The good news for the Huskies is that they have the transfer portal to look at for new talent. With everyone that is departing for the NFL, they will need to reload in the portal. Here is the sneakiest player that they have landed so far.

RB Jonah Coleman, Arizona

A lot of players in the Washington football transfer portal class are coming from the same school: Arizona. The reason for this is because the new head coach of the Huskies is Jedd Fisch, who was the head coach of the Wildcats last year, and he did a great job of bringing that program back in a short time. Washington has landed four transfers from Arizona, and one of them is running back Jonah Coleman.

The Washington offense was loaded last season, and that is where they will be losing a lot of talent. However, a player like Jonah Coleman has the potential to pick up some of the slack at the RB position. He took a big leap this past season, which was his sophomore year, as he finished the season with 871 yards and five touchdowns. He also averaged 6.8 yards per carry. Coleman had a really solid year, and he has the potential to get even better at Washington.

First of all, he will be a junior next season, and he should continue to improve with another offseason under his belt. Also, the fact that he is already familiar with Jedd Fisch is huge. The adjustment of transferring can be tough, but when you are familiar with the coach, it makes it much easier. Washington fans should be excited about Coleman.