Inside The Huskies

Huskies Take Team-Bonding to Different Levels

The UW football team has gone from sleeping bags to the water to the course.
Dan Raley|
Husky football players gave rowing a try on Lake Union.
Husky football players gave rowing a try on Lake Union. | UW

In recent weeks, we've seen photos of University of Washington football players in a rowing shell, in canoes, on a sailboat, on the golf course.

As the Huskies try to become relevant again in the pursuit of championships and playoff berths, they've been focused on team-bonding.

Last year was all about football recovery efforts from the depths after losing all but one starter. This one is about moving forward -- getting on the top side of .500, returning to the polls and making another run at the CFP postseason.

For the most part, the 2024 Huskies were a bunch of strangers. They're now making a concentrated effort to better know and trust each other.

"They like to be around each other," UW coach Jedd Fisch said.

A prime example of this was last Wednesday night, when UW running back Jonah Coleman, quarterback Demond Williams Jr. and cornerback Ephesians Prysock, plus Fisch, hurried back from Las Vegas and Big Ten Media Days to Montlake.

They held a sleepover, sleeping bags and all, in Husky Stadium. They asked for a movie to be shown on the Jumbotron, specifically John Wick. The plan was to go for a midnight run.

Earlier, a group Huskies filled every seat in an eight-man shell and went rowing around Lake Union, doing something that their UW crew counterparts make happen so effortlessly.

The previous Huskies from 2023 and their national runner-up team had their own ways of pulling together, with former linebacker Edefuan Ulofoshio sharing how those guys used to run up the steep and demanding Mailbox peak in the Cascade Mountains.

The current guys prefer lower elevation levels, but are aiming for increased football success with a more veteran, and hopefully for them, a more cohesive team.

"We're going to need all that talent and leadership because we know we're playing in the toughest conference in the country," Fisch said.

Husky fall camp begins next Wednesday, with the first game coming exactly a month later on August 30 against Colorado State at Husky Stadium.

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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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