Inside The Huskies

Looking for Back-up UW Quarterback, Here's Ready Option

Kini McMillan could be the guy designated to back up starter Demond Williams Jr.
Dan Raley|
Freshman quarterback Kini McMillan looks for a receiver in the Spring Game.
Freshman quarterback Kini McMillan looks for a receiver in the Spring Game. | Skylar Lin Visuals

Kai Horton has moved on. Shea Kuykendall has medically retired. By now, Dylan Morris probably is a high school coach somewhere.

So who's the University of Washington back-up quarterback, a question that became even more pressing two weeks ago when Husky starter Demond Williams Jr. flirted with entering the transfer portal and going to the highest bidder?

At this point, it might be Treston "Kini" McMillan.

UW experience: two handoffs at the LA Bowl.

While coach Jedd Fisch hinted his staff might go out and secure another veteran, game-tested quarterback such as a Horton or a Kuykendall to serve as a spare tire, McMillan quietly made a move behind the scenes this past season to establish himself in the Husky QB hierarchy.

Dash Beierly, from the Mater Dei football powerhouse in Southern California, arrived with the bigger reputation, but McMillan, from Mililani, Hawaii, showed plenty of swagger at practice, maybe more swagger last season than any other UW quarterback,

The 6-foot, 210-pound McMillan just had that presence about him when on the field, that he was out to make plays and you couldn't rattle him.

He stood strong in the pocket. He threw a hard football. He threw a touchdown pass in the Spring Game. He just looked like he could get in your face if you dropped one of his throws.

McMillan might have been motivated by the fact he wasn't a widely talked-about recruit coming in such as Williams once was, or even Beierly.

Kini McMillan strengthens his wrists with rubber balls during spring ball.
Kini McMillan strengthens his wrists with rubber balls during spring ball. | Skylar Lin Visuals

While those two first-year players were ever so close as freshmen quarterbacks -- with Beierly drawing a solitary LA Bowl snap by replacing McMillan with the clock about to run out -- the Hawaiian seemed to have a slight edge over the other guy.

Demond Williams Jr. will draw a majority of the Husky game snaps this coming season, operating behind a veteran offensive line, yet with McMillan it won't be a surprise if he becomes the back-up and gets ready to play for real.

Kini McMillan threw a touchdown pass in the Spring Game.
Kini McMillan threw a touchdown pass in the Spring Game. | Skylar Lin Visuals

Again, the one thing people will notice about McMillan is he acts like he belongs out there.

He's not as fast as Williams, but he's mobile enough, just like the No. 1 guy, and will scramble to make things happen.

A year ago, McMillan got in trouble with a coach for twice wearing ear rings to spring practice, but he was contrite about it and took them off.

McMillan soon could be known as the guy who's good at getting himself out of trouble, waiting in the wings, ready to go if the Huskies need him.

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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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