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Inside The Huskies

Huskies Add Another Running Back From Transfer Portal

Trey Cooley will join the UW after not playing much for the past two seasons.
Dan Raley|
Trey Cooley (0), then of Georgia Tech, runs past Wake Forest defensive back DaShawn Jones (10) in 2023.
Trey Cooley (0), then of Georgia Tech, runs past Wake Forest defensive back DaShawn Jones (10) in 2023. | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

Apparently not totally satisfied with its rushing attack, the University of Washington football team on Tuesday added another running back from the transfer portal, this one a well-worn player named Trey Cooley.

The 5-foot-10, 208-pound Cooley comes from Troy in the Sun Belt Conference, where he transferred last year, blew a knee four days before the season opener and missed all of last season.

Prior to that, he played two years for Georgia Tech, with injuries limiting him to just three games in 2025, and a pair of seasons for Louisville, giving him two ACC teams on his resume.

So he really hasn't played much at all since 2023, when the Huskies were in the CFP national championship game and had Dillon Johnson as its No. 1 running back, which seems like a long time ago.

Cooley will jump into competition for a Husky spot that doesn't have a workhorse running back returning following the graduation of Jonah Coleman. He has one year of eligibility remaining.

He's the UW's second portal pick-up at this position, following Jayden Limar, formerly of Oregon.

Players returning on the Husky roster who are in the mix are sophomore Jordan Washington, redshirt freshmen Quaid Carr and Julian McMahan, plus incoming freshmen Brian Bonner and Ansu Sanoe.

Trey Cooley (0) celebrates a 2023 Georgia Tech touchdown against Louisville.
Trey Cooley (0) celebrates a 2023 Georgia Tech touchdown against Louisville. | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Originally out of Raleigh, North Carolina, Cooley was at his best as a Louisville freshman by rushing 86 times for 431 yards and a touchdown and catching 12 passes for 173 yards and 2 scores.

That season, he had a career-best 112 yards rushing on 13 carries in a 28-14 victory over Boston College for a 6-7 Cardinals team.

He left Louisville after running 59 times for 278 yards and 2 scores and catching 9 passes for 66 yards and a TD in 2022.

Cooley transferred to Georgia Tech for the 2023 season and almost immediately played against Louisville, his former team. He scored on touchdown runs of 1 and 23 yards in a 39-34 loss to the Cardinals.

He finished that season, his last full one, with 64 carries for 274 yards and 3 touchdowns, and 11 catches for 112 yards and another score.

Cooley was limited in his game time during the 2024 season after suffering a concussion on a kickoff against Florida State.

So he now comes to Washington, well traveled and put through the ringer with his health, looking to get back on the football field and stay there.

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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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