Skip to main content
Inside The Huskies

Former Husky WR Taeshaun Lyons Re-Emerges with Utah

The freshman receiver left the UW prior to the Sugar Bowl.
Dan Raley|
Former Husky WR Taeshaun Lyons Re-Emerges with Utah
Former Husky WR Taeshaun Lyons Re-Emerges with Utah

In this story:

Washington Huskies

Taeshaun Lyons, the first player to exit the University of Washington's 2023 recruiting class for the transfer portal, committed to Utah while his former team was imploding.

In revealing his decision on social media, the 6-foot-1, 170-pound freshman wide receiver from Hayward, California, seemed to take a dig at the Huskies by posting, "No More Games."

Lyons obviously didn't find the 14-1 and national runner-up Huskies a good situation for him, leaving before then-unbeaten UW took on Texas in the Sugar Bowl and College Football Playoff semifinals and Michigan in the national championship game.

It's possible he simply didn't mesh with former Huskies receivers coach JaMarcus Shephard, an extroverted personality who can be an acquired taste for some players.

"Sometimes, it's just a fit for guys," ex-UW offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb said at the time of Lyons' exit. "Taeshaun is a good kid. He's just looking for maybe somebody who fits his personality. Sometimes we're looking for guys who fit ours, too." 

Lyons will join a Utes football program run by a no-nonsense coach in Kyle Whittingham and see how that works.

With the Huskies' three starting receivers leaving early for the NFL draft, Lyons chose not to stay and compete for one of the open jobs. 

Lyons played in just two outing for the Huskies, against Boise State and Michigan State, and had a sure touchdown pass from Dylan Morris hit him in the hands against the Big Ten team at the goal line and get intercepted.

A 4-star recruit, the widely pursued Lyons picked the UW from among 24 scholarship offers that included the likes of Notre Dame, Texas A&M, Oregon, Penn State and Utah.

Go to si.com/college/washington to read the latest Inside the Huskies stories — as soon as they’re published. Not all stories are posted on the fan sites.

Find Inside the Huskies on Facebook by searching: Inside Huskies/FanNation at SI.com or https://www.facebook.com/dan.raley.12

Follow Dan Raley of Inside the Huskies on Twitter: @DanRaley1 or @UWFanNation or @DanRaley3

Have a question, direct message me on Facebook or Twitter.

Loading recommendations... Please wait while we load personalized content recommendations

Published
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.

Home/Football