Muhammad Left Oklahoma State to Join 'One of Those DBUs'

The University of Washington football team had the two best cornerbacks in the Pac-12, but couldn't take advantage of this 2021 luxury and sent Trent McDuffie and Kyler Gordon off to the NFL following a 4-8 meltdown.

Bouncing back with an 11-2 team last fall, the Huskies seemingly had everything — except a pair of savvy, lockdown corners.

Instead Kalen DeBoer and his coaching staff were left with only injured, way too young and badly beaten players trying to fill the two all-important coverage roles.

On Monday, co-defensive coordinator Chuck Morrell even admitted how freshman Jaivion Green really wasn't ready to play last season but he had to because no one else was available. Green appeared in nine games and burned through his redshirt status.

Now six practices into spring football, the Huskies are in the midst of a total cornerback makeover and it begins with Jabbar Muhammad, a newly arrived and accomplished Texan from Oklahoma State.

This Big 12 import had a previous connection to Husky defensive-backs coach Julius "Juice" Brown, who coached a season at Texas Tech before joining DeBoer's staff at Fresno State and coming with the coach to Seattle.

You also can thank the departed Jimmy Lake for establishing a sterling secondary reputation that still exists and helped bring this defender north.

"This is one of the DBUs," Muhammad said. "I wanted to be part of that."

Cornerback Jabbar Muhammad wore jerseys No. 6 and 7 for Oklahoma State before making the change to 1 once at Washington.

Jabbar Muhammad said he was drawn to the Huskies after watching them play in Friday night TV games a couple of times in 2022.

Jabbar Muhammad hails from DeSoto, Texas, and says the only UW player he knew coming in was Ja'Lynn Polk, the Husky wide receiver from Lufkin, Texas.

In the 2022 Fiesta Bowl, Jabbar Muhammad had a pair of pass break-ups, including this one in the second half against Notre Dame receiver Braden Lenzy.

Jabbar Muhammad shared in Oklahoma State's 37-35 victory over Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 1, 2022, in Glendale, Arizona. He made his first college start in that game.

Changing schools, Jabbar Muhammad said the one thing he misses from his previous stop is the food, which is Southern or Southwest cuisine. In particular, he yearns for a chicken biscuit sandwich.

Jabbar Muhammad celebrates dropping Baylor running back Trestan Ebner for a 1-yard loss. The cornerback had 71 career tackles at Oklahoma State.

Appearing in 31 games for Oklahoma State, Jabbar Muhammad started 13 of them, including all 12 in 2023.

Since returning from spring break, he's overcome a minor health issue suffered in winter workouts and slid into coverage responsibilities primarily with the Huskies' No. 1 defense.

Muhammad basically is the missing piece for the UW lineup, a guy who can force the issue in the secondary rather than be a Band-Aid player simply hoping to survive as so many Husky corners did in 2022. He's been beaten a few times this spring on scoring passes to Rome Odunze, but remains undaunted by this, welcoming the challenge.

"I want to get the ball back to Penix and the offense," he said. "That's what I want to do. That's what I pride myself on. And I come down and tackle, as well."

Muhammad used this combination of skills to earn All-Big 12 second-team honors from one media outlet and honorable mention plaudits from another, making him a player of high value in the portal.

While he was committed and getting ready to watch the Huskies face the Texas Longhorns in the Alamo Bowl from his family home in DeSoto, Texas, south of Dallas, co-defensive coordinator William Inge was in San Antonio sharing how Muhammad had reached out to the UW in a most unconventional manner.

The Oklahoma State player used a Twitter message to express interest in coming to Seattle, sending the Husky recruiting staff scurrying to find more conventional or direct contact info to contact him.

While Oklahoma State is more often than not a top 25 program — Muhammad played in the Fiesta Bowl against Notre Dame — he still felt the need to change schools to keep his game moving forward.

"[It's] a different level of football," Muhammad said of the UW. "A kind of bigger stage, a little bit. The offense was coming back and the whole defense was coming back. It's going to be something special — and I wanted to be part of that."

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