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Inside The Huskies

Ex-Husky Austin Mack Goes From Prodigy to Journeyman

The former UW quarterback just lost the battle for the starting job at Alabama.
Dan Raley|
Austin Mack (10) towers over his UW teammates in 2023.
Austin Mack (10) towers over his UW teammates in 2023. | Skylar Lin Visuals

Kalen DeBoer just named his Alabama starting quarterback for the coming season -- and it wasn't Austin Mack.

For those who have forgotten, Mack was once considered the next big thing behind center for the University of Washington football team not too long ago.

He was the eventual heir apparent to Michael Penix Jr. at some point in time.

The kid who gave up his senior year at California's Folsom HIgh School to get started early in Montlake.

The guy who accompanied DeBoer and others from the UW to Alabama and still hasn't made it work down there.

There's a lot to like about Mack, foremost his 6-foot-6, 237-pound physique.

He has a great arm.

He's been described as an unselfish teammate.

Still, as he enters his fourth season of college football, Mack has become this young prodigy who has turned into an unused journeyman.

It just goes to show how careers hinge on fateful decisions.

Who's to say that Mack wouldn't be the starting quarterback for the Huskies and enjoying great success had DeBoer stayed at Washington?

Who's to say that Alabama probably wasn't the best place for an oversized pocket passer such as Mack to go?

As he prepares for another season as the Crimson Tide back-up, he's appeared in just five games over his three college seasons.

Mack didn't get on the field for the Huskies in 2023, played just one game at Alabama the following season and drew four appearances for the SEC powerhouse this past season.

Austin Mack throws a pass in warm-ups before the 2023 UW-USC football game.
Austin Mack throws a pass in warm-ups before the 2023 UW-USC football game. | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

His college stats: 26 completions in 35 attempts for 267 yards and 3 scores, with zero interceptions.

That should be a good day's work for Mack, not an entire career.

As it stands in Alabama, he lost out as the CrimsonTide starter to Keelon Russell, a 6-foot-3, 207-pound second-year player from Dallas, who appeared in two games in 2025.

If Russell is the starter with four seasons remaining if he chooses, the odds of Mack ever becoming the Alabama starter are next to nil.

Alabama quarterback Austin Mack prepares to take a snap during a Crimson Tide scrimmage.
Alabama quarterback Austin Mack prepares to take a snap during a Crimson Tide scrimmage. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

He still answers to DeBoer and offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb as coaches he trusts, but Alabama has just never had a quarterback type such as Mack taking game-day snaps as the No. 1 guy.

Somewhere else, Mack might have been a highly productive passer and team leader.

Yet as it stands, we may never know how good this kid could have been as a college quarterback.

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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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