Huskies South? Everyone It Seems Wants UW Coaches, Players

Alabama, Florida and North Carolina each have large numbers of former Montlake personnel.

Robert Bala oversees a UW spring drill, with Isaiah Ward dropping down in front of him. / Skylar Lin Vusals

As football personnel comes and goes through the turnstile at the University of Washington -- 15 full-time coaches have checked out of Montlake over the past year alone, or more than one per month -- it's sort of mind-boggling where clusters of the departed have landed.

In fact, it's a horse race to see who can become Huskies South among Alabama, North Carolina and now Florida.

With Ryan Grubb's hiring as offensive coordinator this past week, the Kalen DeBoer-led Crimson Tide now have five former UW coaches running the show in Tuscaloosa and four ex-Husky players on the roster.

At North Carolina, with the Bill Belichick era in play, the Tar Heels have a pair of former UW coaches and four one-time Huskies players in the fold.

Not to be outdone, Florida can count three one-time Husky coaches on its staff with a former UW player on the roster after linebackers coach Robert Bala couldn't get of snowy Seattle fast enough this past week to join the Gators.

While Husky coach Jedd Fisch announced a pair of staff promotions last week -- adding Ryan Walters and Taylor Mays as his new defensive coordinator and safeties coach, respectively -- he still finds himself in the middle of the hiring process, needing a replacement for Bala.

On Monday, Bala was seated at a table in a Husky Stadium media gathering, noticeably fiddling with his phone while others spoke, maybe negotiating his new position right then if not making plane reservations to Gainesville. By Wednesday, he was three time zones away, overnight landing his next job.

Huskies South, it's a serious competition for Montlake expertise.

The Florida coaching staff now includes Will Harris as its secondary coach after he previously served as a UW assistant coach for the Chris Petersen and Jimmy Lake staffs; Vinnie Sunseri, as co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach after leaving as Fisch's safeties coach; and Bala, who returns to the SEC after coaching at Alabama in 2023 before coming to the UW.

Ex-Husky coach Vinnie Sunseri is shown in 2012 as an Alabama player. / Daniel Shirey-Imagn Images

Pursuing a seventh college football season, and second at Florida, former Husky safety Asa Turner has applied for a medical redshirt after missing all but the opener last season for the Gators when he suffered a knee injury.

At North Carolina, Belichick, of course, coaxed his son Steve, Fisch's former UW defensive coordinator, to take the same job in Chapel Hill. Add to that Armand Hawkins, who went from Huskies defensive analyst to Tar Heels cornerbacks coach.

One-time UW players now pulling on the powder blue colors of Carolina are linebacker Khmori House, safety Peyton Waters, cornerback Thaddeus Dixon and wide receiver Jason Robinson Jr. House started five games for the UW last season, Dixon a dozen.

This brings us to Alabama, which has the biggest collection of one-time UW football coaches and players -- nine.

DeBoer now has Grubb next to him again calling the offensive shots, reforming a highly potent partnership . They'll work with former UW wide receivers coach JaMarcus Shephard and quarterbacks coach Nick Sheridan, who shared the Alabama OC responsibilities last season and kept the job warm for Grubb while he gave the NFL a try. Add to them Chuck Morrell, the former Huskies co-defensive coordinator who was recently promoted from some sort of staff consulting role for DeBoer to inside linebackers coach.

On the Crimson Tide roster are former UW center Parker Brailsford, wide receiver Germie Bernard, tight end Josh Cuevas and quarterback Austin Mack. Brailsford and Bernard were starters last season. Mack stands to challenge for the starting quarterback job, especially with Grubb having mentored him before.

It's Huskies South, continuously importing football needs from the Northwest.

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