Huskies Resemble Well-Oiled Machine in Early Spring Practices

A year ago, Kalen DeBoer and his coaches were new and just trying to learn everyone's names when they opened University of Washington spring football practice.

Besides getting acquainted, they introduced a more up-tempo way of doing things, of moving from snap to snap, from drill to drill, of getting things done.

It was a learning process for the players that went fairly well, though DeBoer and his staff didn't feel they were quite ready to conduct a full-blown spring game, settling on controlled scrimmage plays interspersed among drills to finish up.

With four practices in following an 11-2 season, Husky football looks like a well-oiled machine.

Everyone knows what's expected and what kind of results are possible.

"Now we're on a trust level with our guys and they're on a trust level with each other," DeBoer said when spring ball began. "Where it's holding each other to a high level of accountability and really pushing guys to do things that maybe are a little uncomfortable at times."

On Wednesday, the Huskies held their fourth of 15 spring workouts and photographer Skylar Lin, a UW student who regularly contributes to our Inside the Huskies website, was there to capture the action from many different angles.

Lin took images of some of the new players such as running back Dillon Johnson, the Mississippi State transfer, and cornerback Jabbar Muhammad, the Oklahoma State transfer, plus quarterback Alex Johnson, a California junior-college transfer.

Check out Lin's photos in the accompanying gallery. It's interesting watching everyone fit in and try to show each other what they've got in terms of football talent. Things move so fast on the field, there's not a lot of time to think about it. Players just have to react to the demands placed on them.

Freshman Tybo Rogers is next up in a running-back drill, followed by Mississippi State transfer Dillon Johnson during Wednesday's practice.

Three weeks after getting injured and taken away on a stretcher, edge rusher Maurice Heims returned to Husky practice on a limited basis.

Oklahoma State transfer cornerback Jabbar Muhammad had his most involved Husky practice yet and looked smooth.

JC transfer cornerback Thaddeus Dixon has been fairly impressive through four Husky football spring practices.

Veteran wide receiver Taj Davis heads up field during a wide-receivers drill while another position group practices on the other side of the field.

JC quarterback Alex Johnson, a Seattle native, runs through his first University of Washington football practice on Wednesday.

Edge rusher Zion Tupuola-Fetui tackles a teammate during a drill in Wednesday's spring football workout.

Jalen McMillan stands tall with the West end zone behind him during Wednesday's spring football practice.

Sophomore Elijah Jackson ran with the No. 1 defense in the scrimmage plays early in practice on Wednesday morning.

Walk-on wide receiver Mason Wheeler acknowledges his presence during Wednesday's spring practice at Husky Stadium.

"All in all, our culture took another step, another leap forward," DeBoer said. "What you see is they believe in the process we have. We've seen improved leadership, which should be expected with so may upperclassmen returning."

That doesn't mean it's all work and no play. Loud music, which was a practice staple of the Jimmy Lake era, was notably turned down, if not muted, last April, while these first-year UW coaches needed some quiet to offer their different messages.

On Wednesday, however, the music might have returned to the previous decibel levels in Husky Stadium, playing throughout the early scrimmage portions, as everyone knew what they were doing and deserved this reward.

Veteran wide receivers Rome Odunze, Ja'Lynn Polk and Taj Davis were seen dancing together to the strains of piped-in songs such as George Clinton's "Atomic Dog" before the whistle blew signifying the beginning of practice and everyone scurried off to drills.

DeBoer makes a real effort to make things rewarding and appealing to his hard-working players.

"It's been really cool seeing the growth of our team," the coach said. "It all comes down to the investment. They see this as a great opportunity and they believe in what we're doing. ... The things that were hard before are now, I don't want to say they're easy, but we've kind of redefined what hard is."

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