A Moment with Transfer Running Back Aaron Dumas
Aaron Dumas is known as a hard-nosed, straight-ahead runner, but he had to reverse the field to finally join a Kalen DeBoer football team.
At the height of the COVID pandemic, he committed to New Mexico before receiving an offer from Fresno State and DeBoer's staff, but he stayed the course with the Lobos, a Mountain West rival.
"Coach DeBoer and Coach [Lee] Marks, they all knew I wanted to go with them the first time," Dumas said, also referencing the new UW running-backs coach.
Instead, the 5-foot-11, 180-pound running back from El Paso, Texas, led New Mexico in rushing with 658 yards, which included a 143-yard outburst against the Fresno State defense.
Putting himself in the transfer portal, Dumas heard from DeBoer within a matter of days. He took a visit to Seattle in January, was impressed by the atmosphere and agreed to become a Pac-12 player rather than play for his hometown UTEP.
He brings a certain amount of toughness to a Husky position group that has been decimated by injuries for spring practice. Dumas and Jay'Veon Sunday are the only scholarship running backs currently available for full-time duty. He has a lot to offer.
"My running style is like this: I like to hit the hole," he said. "That's one thing I do pride myself in. Being a smaller guy, you have to have the heart to go in there and actually do it."
COVID-19 wiped out nearly all of his senior year at El Paso's Americas High School, but he was still able to pile up 6,083 career rushing yards, including 3,184 as a junior, or 236 per game, and score 57 touchdowns.
He had a scholarship offer from Arizona State that got lost in the shuffle of the pandemic before he turned to New Mexico. He had a solid spring and earned the starting job, and got to play against quality competition in Texas A&M, San Diego State and Fresno State.
"Staying on the field and staying in the moment is one thing I've learned," he said.
Which brings him to Seattle, where the Huskies are badly in need of someone like him as they try to get the other guys healthy. Dumas has made it all work out.
"Life comes full circle and now I'm with them," he said. "I have a great staff around me, great support system and a great foundation here."
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