OK, Now What With the Demond Williams Jr. Situation?

Everyone is a legal analyst now in sizing up the Demond Williams Jr. situation, which not only shocked the University of Washington but all of college football when the starting quarterback revealed he was leaving for money and not looking back.

It told people that no player is off limits anywhere, that anyone can be bought, that this is a sport that has only rules for 60 minutes or more on game day.

College football was built on tradition and sadly each and every one of its standards is being tested and disassembled by an unrestrained free-for-all to obtain immediate talent.

Consider that shameless LSU took coach Lane Kiffin away from Ole Miss in the middle of an unprecedented playoff run that is still ongoing for the latter and could be behind this landmark poaching of Williams, who is signed to the Huskies.

Xe'ree Alexander and Demond Williams Jr. show off their MVP awards at the LA Bowl. | Dave Sizer photo

Imagine the message that sends if all of this is true and the SEC program wins a national championship next year with bought-and-paid-for resources from the coach's office to the quarterback room with no restraint of any kind.

College football, if it doesn't correct itself, is in danger of running off a good segment of its fans if there are no guard rails to keep things reasonably fair and competitive. The NFL, which has guidelines pertaining to money and player movement, stands to pick up a lot more followers.

Williams' actions proved surprising because he's a conservative, buttoned-down kid who speaks only in short and concise sentences about leading his team, overcoming mistakes and the need to be better, rarely showing another side to himself. He was so by the book, it was almost maddening.

In this case, he ripped off his clothes and ran out of Husky Stadium naked.

Everything has been pre-programmed for this dual-threat quarterback except for this -- simply walking away without looking back from all of his relationships and a football rebuild that was poised to be highly successful.

Winning doesn't seem to matter that much anymore and then it does. Contracts don't hold much weight either, maybe with Williams moving on with a buyout.

Denzel Boston and Demond Williams Jr. celebrate a big play against Illinois. | Dave Sizer photo

For all of its defensive posturing, the UW most likely won't be able to prevent Williams from going wherever he wants.

For all of its outrage, the school in Montlake tampers just like everyone else -- see the enormous number of Arizona-related transfers that followed Jedd Fisch to Washington.

The Huskies have nine months to find another quarterback and they will.

Maybe it will be Sam Leavitt, formerly of Arizona State, who was shown on Tuesday night seated next to Kiffin at an LSU basketball game, looking at his phone -- maybe reading about speculation regarding Williams possibly coming to Baton Rouge.

Either way, it appears the Williams era at the UW is over, though that's just an unsubstantiated legal opinion if not a good guess, and everyone will redirect their attention and see who shows up to take over as the Husky quarterback at spring football.

It's unclear if college football will react in any other way over the poaching of Williams other than to shrug and move on.

Yet the transfer portal still has nine days of alternately boosting and destroying football programs to go.

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