Inside The Huskies

Husky Walk-On McGannon Exits Program After Playing in 7 Games

The local product played for four different defensive-line coaches in his time in Montlake.
Dan Raley|
Bradley McGannon, UW walk-on DT, has entered the transfer portal.
Bradley McGannon, UW walk-on DT, has entered the transfer portal. | Skylar Lin Visuals

Bradley McGannon exited the University of Washington football program once spring ball ended without any fanfare and just announced over the weekend he would give the transfer portal a try.

Don't know McGannon?

He was a dedicated walk-on player, a burly 6-foot-4, 283-pound junior defensive tackle from Yelm, Washington, and someone who probably realized he had maxed out everything he could do in Montlake. Altogether, he spent four seasons with the UW, played in seven games and will shop himself around with two years of eligibility remaining.

McGannon appeared in four games last season and three the year before during the Kalen DeBoer coaching regime. He came up two career tackles, one against Michigan State nine months ago and another against Colorado in 2022.

No doubt his initial plan was to come to the UW and earn a scholarship, but that's extremely tough to do when you're dealing with three coaching changes and have to start over each time in showing a new Husky staff what you can do.

McGannon joined the Huskies in 2020 when Jimmy Lake was the head coach and the COVID pandemic was raging. For two years, he practiced but never pulled any snaps on game day while answering to a different defensive-line coach each season in Ikaika Malloe and Rip Rowan.

Once Lake was fired, McGannon stayed with the program and earned some Saturday rewards from DeBoer's staff, namely line from coach Inoke Breckterfield, now his third position leader in three years. He played in 2022 against Kent State, Portland State and Colorado, and last season against Boise State, Portland State, Michigan State and California, earning defensive scout team player of the week honors for the Bears game.

However, McGannon finally decided to try something else, leaving the Huskies after maybe seeing his playing opportunity diminish some in spring ball while answering to yet another new defensive-line coach in Jason Kaufusi.

For the latest UW football and basketball news, go to uw.com/college/washington

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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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