Conley Took Positive UW Spring Steps And Painful One

Husky Roster Review: The Ball State transfer came ready to play in April at defensive tackle.

Darin Conley arrived from Ball State and played well in the spring. | Dave Sizer photo

After a couple of padless spring practices in April, it was time for University of Washington football players, especially the transfers and freshmen, to pull on full body armor and show everyone what they could do.

Ball State transfer Darin Conley, a defensive tackle, made an immediate impression as someone hard to block.

During the third practice, the 6-foot-3, 290-pound junior from Kansas City filled up a hole and dropped redshirt freshman running back Quaid Carr for no gain.

Not long after that, Conley got upfield and pulled down speedy freshman rusher Brian Bonner Jr. for a 2-yard loss.

He inflicted pain on just about everyone he encountered early on -- including Jason Kaufusi, his Husky defensive-line coach.

While the coach was demonstrating technique to his players during the fourth spring practice, Conley was trying to get a better vantage point when he accidentally stepped on Kaufusi's foot. When the piercing cleats penetrated his sneakers, Kaufusi let out a loud groan and began hopping around.

Conley just stood there, looking a little sheepish and maybe acting as if he had swallowed a canary without meaning to.

Darin Conley waits for the next defensive-line drill. | Dave Sizer photo

This is one in a series of articles -- going from 0 to 99 on the UW roster -- examining what each scholarship player and leading walk-on did in spring practice and what to expect from them going into fall camp.

Conley was rewarded rather than reprimanded for his early footwork, promoted at times to the No. 1 defense to pair up with freshman defensive tackle Derek Colman-Brusa and senior edge rushers Jacob Lane and Isaiah Ward, while spelling junior tackle Elinneus Davis.

"In general, he's flying around, striking with his hands," Kaufusi said of Conley. "He has a real good pass-rush skill set, so I'm real pleased with that."

Conley proved productive from start to end as he more than likely earned a spot in the season-long rotation, though he won't supplant Davis or likely Colman-Brusa as a starter.

In the Spring Game, he was one of the visible defensive standouts. He deflected a Demond Williams Jr. pass in the opening half and nearly intercepted a Derek Zammit delivery in the second half, with the drop causing him to grab his helmet and bend over in frustration.

Darin Conley practices in Dempsey Indoor. | Dave Sizer photo

In stepping up from the MAC to the Big Ten, Conley was open to all position pointers sent his way and tried to put them to good use.

"He's kind of listening and taking all of the coaching of what I do in terms of teaching the fundamentals," Kaufusi said.

Those are positive steps, which should be more than enough to offset that painful one.

Darin Conley wears all of the protective knee braces. | Dave Sizer photo

What he's done: Conley spent three seasons at Ball State, redshirting his first season, playing in a dozen games in 2024 as a reserve and starting every outing last season for a 4-8 team. He had a chance to go head to head against with teams such as Purdue and Auburn in a 2025 season in which he finished with 28 tackles, which included 4.5 tackles for loss and a sack.

Starter or not: He has 12 starts on his ledger from the MAC and two seasons of UW eligibility remaining, so the chances are reasonable that he could become a Montlake starter at some point, though Davis and Colman-Brusa aren't graduating any time soon.