Inside The Huskies

Arizona Finally Takes Player Away From UW in Zach Henning

The versatile offensive lineman will head to Tucson after starting four games at center.
Dan Raley|
Zach Henning will transfer from the UW to Arizona.
Zach Henning will transfer from the UW to Arizona. | Arizona

Since Jedd Fisch changed coaching jobs, he's brought 18 football players with him from Arizona to the University of Washington.

It was probably time for him to give something back.

On Friday, the Wildcats finally tapped into Fisch's UW talent pool by receiving a commitment from Zach Henning, the 6-foot-5, 310-pound junior who spent the past three seasons with the Huskies playing center, guard and even tight end.

As versatile as he is, Henning was faced with returning to reserve duty once more, after starting four games at center this past season, had he stayed in Montlake.

Landen Hatchett, out with a wrist injury, stands to reclaim his starting center spot, while John Mills and Geirean Hatchett will return as the No. 1 guards.

Henning from Centennial, Colorado, was a loyal soldier for the UW offensive line, but he never was going to be more than a Matteo Mele or Corey Luciano at center, which was a senior starter and a journeyman.

So he had to go elsewhere to find greater opportunity to advance and he apparently feels Bob Brennan-coached Arizona will provide him with that in the desert.

Henning appeared in two games as a true freshman, facing Michigan State and California, for the Huskies' national runnerup team in 2023.

As a redshirt freshman, he drew snaps in all 13 games, starting as a blocking tight end against Eastern Michigan once the UW had lost Quentin Moore to what would become a season-ending knee injury.

Henning began the 2025 season as the back-up center to the younger Hatchett, but was summoned for more tight-end duty against Illinois when Moore was injured once more and had to sit out.

In a 42-25 UW victory over the Illini, the versatile lineman even changed his number this time to play the part, pulling on No. 80 rather than his usual 58.

A game later at Wisconsin, Henning stepped in halfway though that road outing for Hatchett, who tried to play while wearing a heavy wrap on his injured wrist

He ended up starting the Huskies' final four games, including the LA Bowl against Boise State.

Four days following the postseason outing, Henning and safety teammate Vince Holmes revealed they would enter the transfer portal.

So two seasons into he Fisch coaching change, the UW still holds an 18-1 edge in taking talent away from its former fellow Pac-12 member.

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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