Adam Mohammed's Montlake Departure Remains Unexplained

Originally posted on Washington Huskies on SI
By Dan Raley | Last updated Jan 15, 2026 11:56 AM ET

Jedd Fisch is the ultimate players' coach, always talking up his guys, often referencing the relationships he's built with them.

Such as with Adam Mohammed, the former University of Washington running back who has since pivoted to California after the transfer portal opened.

"I've known Adam since he was in junior high school," Fisch said somberly. "Obviously, you'd love to hold on to every player and sometimes you can't. Or you don't."

While the Husky head coach clearly doesn't like discussing player departures, he gave a brief look into Mohammed's exit that seemed as surprising to him as it did to everyone else.

Fisch acknowledged he first learned of the then 6-foot, 220-pound sophomore's intentions to transfer in the days leading up to the LA Bowl against Boise State.

Mohammed would play, but only very briefly, pulling just two carries for a season-low 6 yards in the Huskies' 38-10 victory over the Mountain West team at SoFi Stadium.

In the previous four games, the big back from Glendale, Arizona, had averaged 16 carries for 81 yards per outing, and come up with 108 yards rushing at UCLA and 105 against Oregon at home.

Yet here's the kicker to the unraveling connection here between player and coach -- Fisch still can't fully explain why this back he had groomed to be the UW's No. 1 guy moved on.

"Yeah, during that bowl week I got that indication," he said of Mohammed's pending departure. "I'm not sure why he left. I don't know that."

Now that might have been Fisch simply just moving on from an unpleasant topic, as he is wont to do, by changing the subject.

Yet if that's the case, it almost seems as if there was no negotiation to prevent this manpower move from happening, that Mohammed just up and left once the season was over.

"I got the impression near the end of the bowl week he was willing to move on," Fisch reiterated.

What makes this so hard to comprehend is Mohammed left a team that is poised to challenge for College Football Playoff berth to one that is not.

He moved on from a Husky football team coming off a 9-4 season to a California program that has had winning seasons in just four of its past 14.

He brusquely cut ties with a coach he had followed from Arizona to the UW to play for Tosh Lopoi, who is taking on his first head-coaching job with the Bears and, like all assistants moving up, no sure thing as an FBS leader.

If it was a financial decision, California doesn't have the reputation of being a free-wheeling spender for talent. Maybe that's changed. Either way, Mohammed is gone.

"I wish him the best," Fisch said.

This article first appeared on Washington Huskies on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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