Inside The Huskies

Husky Roster Review: Bandes Keeps Things Loose and Zany on D-Line

The fifth-year defensive tackle looks for even more playing time.
Dan Raley|
Husky Roster Review: Bandes Keeps Things Loose and Zany on D-Line
Husky Roster Review: Bandes Keeps Things Loose and Zany on D-Line

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Washington Huskies

Jacob Bandes is the kind of guy who, on his way to practice, walks through Husky Stadium all alone in his own world, singing loudly without a care.

He's that 6-foot-3, 314-pound University of Washington defensive tackle, heavily tattooed and bearded with belly hanging out, who enthusiastically might jump up and force a teammate to carry him piggy-back.

Or Bandes is that spontaneous person, not unlike the late John Belushi, who can begin his own tribal dance, for instance suddenly begin yelling at and chest-bumping a surprised Kalen DeBoer, his new coach.

Welcome to Bluto's Wacky World, Husky style.

"Our man Ban-dezel is definitely great," UW co-defensive coordinator William Inge said with a laugh.

Going down the roster from No. 0 to 99, Bandes, who wears No. 55 on defense, is next up in a series of profiles about each of the Huskies' scholarship players and assorted walk-ons, summing up their spring football performances and surmising what might come next for them.

Jacob Bandes finishes up a high-stepping spring drill alongside Faatui Tuitele (99), Tuli Letuligasenoa (91) and Bradley McGannon (97).

Jacob Bandes, shown with Tuli Letuligasenoa, wore 96 his first three Husky seasons before switching to 55. 

Faatui Tuitele (99) and Jacob Bandes (55) share a spring practice moment in Dempsey Indoor, posing for photographer Skylar Lin.

Jacob Bandes, third from left, fires out of a stance during this spring warmup drill in Dempsey Indoor.

Jacob Bandes sometimes offers a zany side to the Huskies with his antics. 

The 314-pound Jacob Bandes, with ample midsection, waits his turn in a defensive-lineman drill that involves Voi Tunuufi (52) during spring practice. 

Jacob Bandes helps fellow defensive tackle Faatui Tuitele stretch out by pushing on his back during spring practice. 

Jacob Bandes is in a hurry to get to spring practice in 2021 when Jimmy Lake held the workouts almost exclusively on the East practice field. 

A boisterous Jacob Bandes jumps onto a teammate's back following a Husky Stadium no-pads workout. 

Jacob Bandes was captured singing a pop song to himself while he walked to spring practice in 2020 for Jimmy Lake's team.

Bandes has proven to be an entertaining and goofy teammate at all times. What his next logical step would be is to draw a lot more attention to himself as a Husky football player.

While a 4-star recruit from Pittsburg, California, he's not been a disappointment by any means. He's come ready to play from the moment he stepped on the Montlake campus and he's appeared in 31 games and logged 29 tackles in four seasons.

He's even started twice, opening at Michigan in 2021 and at Arizona State last season.

However, Bandes appears stuck on the depth chart, unable to cross that next threshold to full-time starter and maybe even an all-conference performer of some sort that still might not be out of the question for him. 

For now, Bandes comes out of spring football as a back-up player and a ready replacement for starters Tuli Letuligasenoa and Faatui Tuitele.

"What you need to do with him is keep pressing the envelope," Inge said. "His learning is great and he plays very hard."

Bandes remains that free-spirited Husky who keeps things fun and interesting at all times, and maybe just needs to harness that energy more into taking an opponent's head off.

JACOB BANDES FILE

Service: He's played in games in each of his four previous seasons, logging 2, 4, 12 and 13, 31 outings in all. He's got two starts, again opening against Michigan in 2021 and against Arizona State last season.

Stats: Bandes has 29 tackles, 14 coming in 2021 and a dozen last season for DeBoer's staff. He picked up 3 tackles against Colorado last November, which earned him UW Defensive Player of the Game plaudits from the coaches. One of them was his lone career sack, a 9-yard loss for the Buffaloes.

Role: A fifth-year junior, Bandes might not become full-time starting material until 2024, once Tuli Letuligasenoa graduates. Or else he remains content to come off the bench and do his thing.

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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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