Costello Spurns Huskies for Southern Comfort
K.J. Costello went deep rather than throw an out route.
The Stanford quarterback picked the SEC's Mississippi State and rejected Pac-rival Washington as his final football landing place as a grad transfer, making the announcement on Monday on social media.
Costello will play for Mike Leach, the former Washington State and Texas Tech coach who chooses to throw the football more than any other power 5 school -- using an Air Raid offense attractive to any NFL-minded quarterback.
Leach is entrusted with rebuilding a Mississippi State team that went 6-7 last season and finished fifth in the SEC West, a division it shares with national champion LSU, perennial contender Alabama, Auburn, Texas A&M, state rival Mississippi and Arkansas.
Costello visited Washington last Tuesday, when it rained all day, not an effective recruiting tool, especially for a pass-minded quarterback.
Earlier, Wake Forest grad transfer Jamie Newman considered the Huskies among several options before deciding on the SEC's Georgia.
With a portal QB now unlikely, and no one sticking out from the junior college ranks, the Huskies have three scholarship quarterbacks from which to choose their 2020 starter -- sophomore Jacob Sirmon, redshirt freshman Dylan Morris and incoming freshman Ethan Garbers.
Sirmon, from suburban Bothell High School and once one of the nation's leading recruits, played sparingly this past season as a backup for starter Jacob Eason, who declared early for the NFL draft. He's shown again in the attached video.
When Costello's name emerged last week, UW fans were split on whether they would welcome him or not. The naysayers preferred having someone who came up through the program. They got their wish.
Costello's Twitter announce is here:
