Inside The Huskies

For Jacob Manu, It's Better Late Than Never In Coming to the UW

The Arizona transfer seriously considered following Jedd Fisch to Montlake last year.
Dan Raley|
Jacob Manu applies pressure on Oklahoma's Jackson Arnold in the 2023 Alamo Bowl.
Jacob Manu applies pressure on Oklahoma's Jackson Arnold in the 2023 Alamo Bowl. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Of the 44 scholarship newcomers added to the University of Washington football roster for the coming season, linebacker Jacob Manu will be the very last one to pull on a uniform and join the Huskies for practice.

The Arizona transfer is pegged for a mid-August return from an ACL injury, a non-contact mishap, that came against Colorado and ended his 2024 season midway through and, as it turned out, his career in Tucson.

"I kind of planted weird and it ended up popping on me," Manu said at a Husky media gathering used in large part to introduce new coaches and players. "Everything happens for a reason, so we'll see."

While the Huskies need two new starting linebackers and everyone else in the competition will have roughly a 25-practice head start on him, counting spring drills, the 5-foot-11, 228-pound Manu doesn't appear overly concerned -- after all, his entire college career has been one of beating long odds.

"The coaches know I'm going to be that guy who brings the energy and the juice," he said. "I'm going to bring my leadership and try to build a culture here in the locker room. When I come back, they know I'm going to be ready."

Jedd Fisch recruited Manu for Arizona only because three of the linebacker's teammates at Servite High School in Anaheim, California, who were already committed to the Wildcats, including standout quarterback Noah Fifita and wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan, kept hammering the coach that he would be missing out if he didn't pursue Manu..

Arizona was the only school to offer him an FBS scholarship and Manu was put on Arizona's scout team once he arrived. Yet by midseason of his freshman year, he became a starter. For his sophomore season, Manu led the Pac-12 in tackles with 116.

Arizona linebacker Jacob Manu (5) and cornerback Ephesians Prysock (7), now Huskies, chase the UW's Dillon Johnson in 2023.
Arizona linebacker Jacob Manu (5) and cornerback Ephesians Prysock (7), now Huskies, chase the UW's Dillon Johnson in 2023. | Zachary BonDurant-Imagn Images

Like so many of his other teammates, Manu contemplated following Fisch to the UW a year ago, but in the end he stayed put. Who knows, he might not have suffered that knee injury had he changed his college surroundings back then.

But he's in Seattle now, determined to get healthy as quick as he can to play for a coach who motivates him.

"Fisch has been loyal to me so I'm loyal to him and what he's got going on with this program," Manu said. "I like Fisch. He's a good coach. He knows how to run a program and I feel like he knows how to flip a program around."

Likewise the coach turned Manu around, from an unwanted player into someone far better than anyone could have imagined. The decision not to follow Fisch to Montlake right away admittedly was a difficult one.

"I was for sure was tempted," Manu said. "It was really hard on my mind, but I ended up making that decision to stay. and ended up coming back there. I'm glad I'm here now."

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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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