Inside The Huskies

Husky Roster Review: Bernard Throws His Own UW Homecoming

The wide receiver was a victim of coaching change, but he appears to have survived nicely.
Dan Raley|
Husky Roster Review: Bernard Throws His Own UW Homecoming
Husky Roster Review: Bernard Throws His Own UW Homecoming

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Washington Huskies

No one faulted a frustrated wide receiver Germie Bernard for leaving the University of Washington football team 16 months ago. Everyone in Seattle next applauded him for coming back.

Coaching changes can be a messy thing and Bernard was exhibit A of what players sometimes have to go through to the extreme.

The Las Vegas product originally drew recruiting overtures from Chris Petersen's Husky staff and he was receptive to the point he visited the school early on and was photographed with that coach.

Bernard hung in there when Jimmy Lake replaced the retiring Petersen and he gave that next coach his oral commitment in July 2020.

Once Lake got fired 16 months later, Bernard was still on board with new UW coach Kalen DeBoer. He signed a national letter of intent in December 2021 and a few weeks later he even traveled to Seattle and was prepared to enroll in winter quarter and take classes.

However, Husky receivers coach Junior Adams without any warning took a lateral job at Oregon, and a weary and frustrated Bernard had seen enough. He asked for and was granted his scholarship release, and transferred to Michigan State.

This story, of course, does not end there. Bernard was an early sensation for the Spartans but he practically disappeared from the offense once the Big Ten team began losing, including 39-28 to the Huskies in Seattle. 

Meantime, he watched from afar as the Huskies put together an 11-2 season and made their wide receivers overly successful. He couldn't get out of East Lansing fast enough. He entered the transfer portal again, contacted the UW staff himself and was welcomed back with open arms. 

"During the season, I saw that and wanted to be a part of it," Bernard said of the high-powered DeBoer/Grubb offense. "I love being part of it now that I'm in it."

Going down the roster from No. 0 to 99, Bernard is next up in a series of profiles about each of the Huskies' scholarship players and assorted walk-ons, where we sum up their spring football performances and surmise what might come next for them.

Germie Bernard caught this 37-yard pass from Dylan Morris in the final spring scrimmage, beating defensive back Dyson McCutcheon. 

Caught up in a couple of UW coaching changes, wide receiver Germie Bernard finally joined this Huskies this spring after transferring in from Michigan State. 

Germie Bernard was a 4-star recruit coming out of Nevada's Liberty High School, the same place that provided Troy Fautanu to the UW, and he now wears that number in purple.

Receivers Ja'Lynn Polk (2) and Germie Bernard (4) chat during a spring practice break while Rome Odunze (1) stands nearby in Dempsey Indoor.

A photographer snaps a shot of Germie Bernard right as the ball hits the UW receivers hands during spring practice held in Husky Stadium.

The Husky receivers stand in line to run a drill around giant blocking dummies, with Ja'Lynn Polk (2) leading the group, followed by Cam Sirmon (18), Jalen McMillan (11), Germie Bernard (4) and others.

Germie Bernard wore No. 5 for Michigan State, but switched to 4 once he joined the Huskies, taking on a number previously used offensively by Lonyatta Alexander Jr., now at Montana State.

Germie Bernard comes to the UW after appearing in a dozen games for a 5-7 Michigan State team that suffered a 39-28 loss to the Huskies.

Germie Bernard (5) was a starter for Michigan State against the Huskies last fall and this pass intended for him was intercepted by Julius Irvin.

DeBoer's Huskies previously have had a few personnel setbacks along the way and losing committed quarterback recruit Lincoln Kienholz to Ohio State and a signed Bernard to Michigan State have been the biggest ones.

But true to form for this unshakeable coach, he and his staff simply wished those guys well, acted like no one was too big for their program and went out and found someone else. 

In Kienholz's case, the Huskies rebounded with California quarterback Austin Mack, who could prove to be as good or better than the other guy.

They replaced Bernard with Bernard. 

DeBoer pointed out that every parting between a player and his staff is amicable, regardless of the decision, because there's always the chance of everyone meeting again.

This is what happened with Bernard, who made the call to the Huskies himself.

"The idea already was to come back here; when I got into the portal, I knew where I wanted to go," the sophomore pass-catcher said. "I didn't want to deal with, if you know what I'm saying, the recruiting process all over again."

In spring ball, Bernard looked every bit the 4-star recruit he was during the original recruiting process. He slipped behind Husky defensive backs and caught the deep pass. Went up and took the ball away. Looked ready to play a lot this fall. 

"They're very welcoming and they understood my decision," Bernard said. "We still had that connection when I came back. For them to want me still, it was a big blessing to me."

GERMIE BERNARD FILE

Service: Bernard played in all 12 games for a 5-7 Michigan State team and drew one starting assignment — against the UW in Husky Stadium.

Stats: He finished with 7 receptions for 128 yards and 2 scores. Bernard provided the Spartans' first points of the season by catching a 44-yard touchdown pass from Payton Thorne in a 35-13 victory over Western Michigan in the opener. His other TD catch came on a 27-yard pass from back-up Noah Kim with just 17 seconds left for the only Michigan State points in a 34-7 home loss to Minnesota. Demonstrating what kind of shape the Spartans' offense is in, Thorne last weekend entered the transfer portal. 

Role: Bernard has three seasons of eligibility remaining so he'll have plenty of time to get things done in Montlake. He likely will come off the bench this fall, but will play a lot, especially now that veteran Taj Davis entered the transfer portal.

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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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