The roster math in college football is getting weird, and Washington is already feeling the effects.
With the five-in-five eligibility setup starting to look like something coaches can actually plan around, staffs are beginning to build for a future where fewer new players arrive each year under the scholarship cap. The catch is that nobody could fully plan for that shift when the current roster was assembled.
That leaves teams carrying what amounts to an extra 20% of scholarship players for the next few seasons. If the same scholarships are spread across five classes instead of four, each class shrinks by about 20%.
Christian Caple wrote over the weekend that Jedd Fisch has already started adjusting to that reality in his third year with the Dawgs.
Fisch has also loaded up his first two recruiting cycles with bigger classes than usual, a move designed to stock the roster with more of his own players. If those players stick around a year longer than expected, Washington gets an extra season of production from them.
It also means the program has to account for the added cost of scholarships, benefits, and revenue share. Fisch and his staff are already working through those solutions, which is just another reminder that coaching now stretches well beyond the whiteboard and the practice field.
On the recruiting front, Washington added two specialists to the ‘27 class while waiting on decisions from its top remaining offensive line targets. Arizona long snapper Braylon Logan committed to the Huskies, and Nolan Balke, rated the #1 Punter in the country by the prestigious Chris Sailer Kicking, also picked the Dawgs.
I have not seen specific reporting, but it appears that Balke is likely to be on scholarship, but not Logan. Stay tuned to see if we can get one of the nation’s top holders this week!
There was also some attention paid to Washington’s linebackers. At Dawgman, Scott Eklund looked at ESPN’s Greg McElroy’s recent Top 10 Linebacking Corps ranking and noted that the Huskies were left off the list.
Eklund dug into whether that omission was justified, and it’s easy to see why Washington would have a case to climb into that conversation during the season. Jacob Manu, Xe’Ree Alexander, and Buddha Al-Uqdah are back with proven production, while Zaydrius Rainey-Sale and Donovan Robinson give the group some rising upside.
And on the women’s basketball side, Washington added UCLA staffer Tasha Brown to Tina Langley’s coaching staff. Brown will hold the title of Associate coach specializing in Peak Performance, with a focus on the mental side of success on the court. Brown and Langley also spent a season together at Rice before Langley moved to Montlake.
In Other News...
Washington Linebackers Were Just Hit With A National Reality Check
Greg McElroys early look at the nations linebacker rooms for 2026 came with a notable omission for Washington, a program that believes it has far more talent in that spot than its getting credit for right now. The Huskies are leaning on a group that should be led by Jacob Manu as he works back from the knee injury that cost him most of last season, while XeRee Alexanders late-year emergence gave the unit a steadier base than it had earlier in the fall. Add in Zaydrius Rainey-Sale, who is also coming off a major injury, and there is at least a case that this group has more upside than the national conversation reflected.
The challenge for Washington is turning that upside into something undeniable once the season starts. Manus return, Alexanders continued growth and Rainey-Sales health all point to a linebacker room that could climb quickly if it stays on track, and the Huskies also have the kind of depth that can make a preseason omission age poorly. The broader question is whether this is simply a unit with promise or one that ends up forcing its way into the same elite tier McElroy already had in mind. [Read more 🡒]
National Take On Demond Williams Just Raised The Stakes For Washington
Demond Williams is heading into his junior season with Washington carrying the kind of attention that comes with being the quarterback everyone in the program is watching. He already has 15 starts behind him, and with four starters back on the offensive line, the Huskies have enough continuity around him to make 2026 feel like a real proving ground. The rest of the offense has its own layers too, from a receiver group still sorting itself out to a tight end room leaning on experience.
Joel Klatts national quarterback discussion only sharpened the conversation around Williams, who landed as an honorable mention rather than among the top 10 names. The message was clear enough: there is talent here, but the next step has to come in the biggest moments, and Washington knows how much depends on that happening after the uncertainty that surrounded Williams earlier this year. If he takes the leap, the Huskies offense can start to look like a unit with real staying power. [Read more 🡒]