Husky Linebacker Drew Fowler Is an Agent of Change
Drew Fowler took a football recruiting trip to UCLA, which offered him a scholarship, but he saw something that persuaded him to return home and play for the University of Washington.
While the linebacker was in Los Angeles, the rain came rushing down hard and wild Husky dogs actually were seen running through campus that day.
"I don't know if you're into signs, but I thought that was pretty funny," Fowler said.
It was persuasive, too. He next agreed to play for the UW as a non-scholarship player, as a walk-on, in hopes of showing he deserved the financial aid the Bruins had put before him.
Fowler had another strong factor affecting his decision, too. Coming from suburban Bellevue High School, he was seeking a cohesive football coaching situation, which he thought would come his way if he played for Chris Petersen's team in Montlake.
"One of the main reasons I came here was for coach Pete," he said. "I had three head coaches in high school. I was looking for a stable system here, which obviously didn't happen. This is my third head coach in college."
Fowler went from playing for Butch Goncharoff, Mark Landes and Michael Kneip at Bellevue High to suiting up for Petersen, Jimmy Lake and now Kalen DeBoer at Washington.
He's had six coaches in eight football seasons. That's a lot of introductions and auditions.
Rather than bemoan the eerily uneven football landscape that has dogged him, the 6-foot-1, 218-pound sophomore from Bellevue, Washington, has learned how to deal with change and counsel others about it.
"I know what my role is — I'm know here for a purpose, helping the other guys navigate these coaching changes and these things of building those relationships," Fowler said. "In a weird way it sort of repeated itself from high school to college."
Linebacker Drew Fowler runs through a practice drill in 2021.
Dan Raley
Entering his fourth season in the UW football program, Fowler has played the past two seasons on special teams, appearing in 12 games.
Meantime, the inside linebacker is trying to show what he can do for DeBoer's staff, which again is not a new experience for him at all.
"Really it's the same process of they'll figure out who I am at the same time I'm figuring out who they are," Fowler said.
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