Derek Coman-Brusa Will Be Pushed To Be Early Starter

The University of Washington football team doesn't show up on any of the lists championing team by team transfer-portal recruiting successes.

Jedd Fisch's staff signed a dozen new players -- and maybe just one or two will be immediate starters as every-down players.

Oh, there's a couple of kicking specialists who will need to fill vacancies, but there's nothing really sexy about that.

No, Fisch maintains he primarily will put his team together through high school recruiting rather than continually take someone else's college hand-me-downs.

"I do not and will not subscribe to trying to build a football team though free agency," he said recently. "Some people can do that. Good for them. That's not us."

One reason is he needs to show loyalty to the players he recruits. Secondly, he needs to develop them inside his program.

For example, Fisch likely could have used another veteran edge rusher -- to replace the departed Zach Durfee and Deshawn Lynch -- and pick up someone who played a lot elsewhere last year.

Instead, he very well might start a freshman at that edge spot in 6-foot-5, 267-pound Derek Colman-Brusa, who's considered the top player pulled from the state last season.

Derek Colman-Brusa shares a moment with UW coaches, from left, Ryan Walters, Jason Kaufusi and Taylor Mays. | UW

"Derek Colman-Brusa is a great player," Fisch told the Andy and Ari podcast this week. "We had to beat some of the best programs in the country for him to come commit to us. My inclination is to play him day one. These guys have to be starters early."

The Huskies opened with six freshmen at times in 2025, led by offensive linemen John Mills, who started 11 games, missing two outings because of a high-ankle sprain.

Colman-Brusa, already bigger than all of the other UW edge rushers, will come in physically ready to play. It will just be a matter of getting him to adhere to the proper techniques required for him in Ryan Walters' defense.

Derek and Lowell Colman-Brusa share a USC moment with ex-Husky QB Sam Huard. | USC

Freshman offensive tackle Kodi Greene, a 5-star player with a ready-made 6-foot-6, 320-pound football physique, is another first-year player who may answer the starting bell once next season begins.

Fisch has maintained that this is how his program will best succeed -- with continual building internally rather than quick fixes pulled from other schools.

While others understandably might be disappointed the Huskies didn't take a more aggressive approach to the transfer portal, while others did, the UW coach said that's just the way it's going to be with his football team.

"That's OK," Fisch said. "We don't need the hype."