Carver Willis, You're Not in Kansas Anymore

It's such a good match, the 6-foot-5, 291-pound Willis from the small town of Durango near the Colorado-New Mexico border says he likes the rain. It didn't even distress him that Husky offensive-line coach Brennan Carroll left the program to return to the NFL to work for his dad Pete Carroll and the Las Vegas Raiders.

"It would be hard to turn down a job to work for my father," the UW. newcomer said. "I think it's the right move for him and his family."

Willis changed schools after starting 19 of 31 games for the Big 12 team, more recently blocking for young and exciting quarterback Avery Johnson, a Kansas native who had the UW among his recruiting finalists before he decided he couldn't leave home. The big tackle knew all about Johnson's earlier interest in the Huskies.

He also was well versed in what took place up front for the UW last season, when it had to start from scratch in putting together an all new offensive line after losing all five starters, Rosengarten included, from its national championship runner-up.

"Doing a rebuild is really hard, especially with the amount of guys they had to play last year," Willis said. "The one thing's that huge in O-line is chemistry and to really be able to trust the guy next to you, and that takes reps. That was one thing they didn't have last year, so to have the production they had, without that chemistry, without the reps, was huge. I'm here to fit in however they need me."

He played almost exclusively at right tackle for Kansas State, but the Huskies envision him taking over on the left side, where they had three different starters last season in Soane Faasolo, Max McCree and Kahlee Tafai, two redshirt freshmen and a JC transfer, with Tafai now at Minnesota.

"Ball is ball," Willis said. "Everything is pretty much the same. Obviously, the one you practice more is the one you'll be more confident with. Right now, I'm practicing more left in preparation for that. I can do either one. My job is to be the best player from wherever the team calls me."

Speaking of calls, he received 54 immediately from interested college teams once entering the transfer portal. They must have seen the video of him running nearly 40 yards without breathing extra hard as an escort for Kansas State running back DJ Giddens. His latest sprint has been to Montlake as possibly the UW's most vital transfer.

"From the time I entered the portal to the time I moved here was about 19 days," Willis said. "So it was a quick turnaround. I'm loving it. This place is so cool."