Durfee Is Healthy, Motivated As UW Fall Camp Opens

Originally posted on Washington Huskies on SI
By Dan Raley | Last updated Jul 29, 2025 5:43 PM ET

Zach Durfee's University of Washington football career is a lot like his heavily tattoed arms. The designs are colorful and interwoven, yet they're complicated.

When Fall Camp opens on Wednesday, the 6-foot-5, 256-pound Durfee -- a physical specimen with a promising college football career as of yet unrealized -- has been ruled healthy and will try once again to become one of the team's top defensive playmakers.

As coaches and UW players met with media members on Tuesday, the junior edge rusher said a month of spring practices that took place without him and the introduction of new defensive coordinator Ryan Walters gave him added incentive to get his body in order and back on the field.

The competition for the two edge positions is expected to be fierce, if not as determined as any personnel battle across the lineup.

"It was really cool when I was watching spring practice," Durfee said. "It was so motivating for me to see all of the guys in the room playing like super well. That was really motivating for me, like I've got to get back and get on my A game."

In his first real opportunity to establish himself in Montlake last fall, he started three games and appeared in just six before double turf toe shut him down for half the season and all of spring ball.

As for Walters, the former Purdue head coach who was fired after two seasons, Durfee took an immediate liking to him and his coaching style. The defensive coordinator can be very direct.

"He calls out someone in front of the whole room and we know who it is," Durfee said. "it's a place of love. It's a place where we want to be the best we can be. He's super hungry, too. "

The edge rusher and the new coach have sat and critiqued the defense for hours, bouncing ideas off each other. They've made a connection, and for good reason.

In a sense, the two of them are both making comebacks this season.

"I'm a coach Walters believer," Durfee said. "If there's one coach Walters fan, I might be him."

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

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