Holmes Reportedly Withdraws from Portal, Stays with Huskies

The safety from Southern California

The University of Washington football defensive unit appears to be getting stronger by the hour, with a pair of safeties on Wednesday pulling themselves out of the transfer portal.

Redshirt freshman Vincent Holmes — so well regarded he should be considered a serious starting candidate in the spring — is no longer in the portal and remains on the Husky roster, according to several outlets.

His news came just a few hours after 4-star freshman safety and early enrollee Peyton Waters told others he was staying put.

The 6-foot, 174-pound Holmes from San Jacinto, Calif., played in just four games last season to preserve his eligibility, but Kalen DeBoer's staff used him on special teams in big games only against Michigan State, USC and Oregon State, all on the road, and against Oregon in the Pac-12 championship game in Las Vegas.

This was a sure sign the coaches viewed him as a playmaker when they gave him meaningful minutes rather than just sent him out there running around in a blowout.

"It was pretty fun, like something different being out there, with everybody having fun and flying down," Holmes said at the Sugar Bowl. "I never thought I'd be out there my freshman year. It was pretty exciting and I like it."

A quick note: though UW redshirt freshman DB/WR Vincent Holmes entered the transfer portal earlier this month, I'm told he's no longer in the portal. UW's roster was also recently updated to exclude departed players, and Holmes is still on it.

So, Holmes is likely still with UW.

— Mike Vorel (@mikevorel) January 31, 2024

While Holmes might have been a little reticent about his chances of earning early playing time, the DeBoer staff, while it was in Seattle, made sure to put promising young players into high-pressure situations just to motivate them or simply to make a statement.

For instance, former Husky co-defensive coordinator Chuck Morrell likely had this one-time 4-star recruit on the field against USC knowing how much that game meant to him because the Trojans had recruited Holmes hard in his desert community east of Los Angeles.

Holmes should be deep in the mix in the safety competition because starter Dominique Hampton has used up his eligibility and fellow starter Asa Turner has committed to transfer to Florida. 

He'll compete with senior Kamren Fabiculanan, junior Makell Esteen, sophomore Tristan Dunn, redshirt freshman Diesel Gordon and incoming freshmen Paul Mencke Jr. and Waters for the two spots.

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