Inside The Huskies

An Inside Look at the Different Facets to UW Spring Football Practice

These workouts typically are playful, organized and competitive.
Dan Raley|
An Inside Look at the Different Facets to UW Spring Football Practice
An Inside Look at the Different Facets to UW Spring Football Practice

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Washington Huskies

University of Washington football players and coaches arrive in clusters for spring practice, beginning at 8 a.m, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. 

If the weather is agreeable, they use Husky Stadium for the next two and a half hours; if not, everyone heads for Dempsey Indoor.

Music echoes loudly, with "Atomic Dog" always on the playlist, and is meant to have everyone fully awake and focused when the first of a series of whistles or horns sends everyone scurrying.

A certain amount of playfulness usually is involved early on. In this case, offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb grabs a football and runs through a cart-like practice contraption that holds 10 large yellow plastic bats, a device meant to stress ball possession if not balance.

Tight-ends coach Nick Sheridan, once a Michigan starting quarterback, spots Grubb's antics, loudly calls for a football and slams through this practice gauntlet himself.

Coach Kalen DeBoer circulates through this mass of football humanity, closely observing everything. Nothing escapes him. He acknowledges everyone. While his players are hustling through drills, he'll periodically stop and visit on the sideline with a high school coach, a recruit and even a media member.  

Edge rusher Bralen Trice cuts an intimidating figure in this Husky spring football drill in Dempsey Indoor on Monday. He was named as a preseason All-American by Walter Camp the previous week.

Jack Westover leads the tight ends through a Dempsey Indoor drill, followed by fellow senior Devin Culp. Westover was hobbled some in a previous practice, spending most of that time on an exercise bike.

Veteran defensive back Mishael Powell, now either a safety or a hybrid Husky after playing cornerback, gracefully catches the ball in this spring football drill

Clutching a football, sixth-year senior Richard Newton is pushing others for snaps and playing time at running back. Newton was a starter two years ago before getting injured. 

UW quarterback Michael Penix Jr. catches a brief break during spring practice No. 6, which was held in Dempsey Indoor because of inclement weather. Penix has looked sharp in running the offense so far.

Freshman Landon Hatchett (66) and redshirt freshman Parker Brailsford (72) are the Husky centers of the future. Both already possess decent strength and size.

The Huskies' Presley, Caleb not Elvis, is a freshman cornerback from Seattle who joined the team three practices ago. He was considered the top recruit in the state this past season. 

Husky wide receiver Giles Jackson puts a teammate through the paces during stretching exercises that take place early in each practice. 

One-time New Mexico transfer Aaron Dumas redshirted last season and is back seeking playing time in a highly competitive running-back group. 

On Monday, the coaches once more experimented with different combinations of players throughout the scrimmage-like portions of practice. Notably, promising sophomore defensive tackle Jayvon Parker, one of the twins from Detroit, was elevated and pulled most of the snaps with the No. 1 defense. 

The Husky secondary, going through a lot of change, opened with Jabbar Muhammad and Jaivion Green, both Texans, at the cornerback slots, backed by safeties Dominique Hampton and Asa Turner, plus Husky hybrid Tristan Dunn. 

Unlike a year ago, when the UW couldn't have fielded a full team of players wearing yellow vests signifying them as injured, the Huskies have just four players who are hands off: edge rusher Maurice Heims, cornerback Davon Banks and walk-on linebacker Styles Siva-Tu'u. 

Newly arrived running back Dillon Johnson from Mississippi State and junior defensive lineman Voi Tunuufi likewise have some issues, but went without vests. Johnson, so physical in stiff-arming multiple defenders on Friday, appeared to have some sort of leg issue. He stood in uniform on the sideline alongside a trainer, continually bending over and stretching. 

DeBoer pulls his team around him, most down on one knee, as he passes along his impressions. He also introduces former Huskies and visiting high school coaches and players, with each person drawing a vocal response from those in a UW uniform.

For the most part, media members have been permitted to watch entire practices, but that will change with a few exceptions over the final nine workouts as the Huskies begin introducing different packages and seek privacy in doing so.

Photographer Skylar Lin, a UW student who contributes regularly to Inside the Huskies, attends each practice and shoots images for an hour before heading to class. Check out his accompany gallery.

 

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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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