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Playing New 'Husky' Role, Dom Hampton Is One Happy Husky

The defensive back will become a hybrid linebacker and cornerback for Kalen DeBoer.
Dan Raley|
Playing New 'Husky' Role, Dom Hampton Is One Happy Husky
Playing New 'Husky' Role, Dom Hampton Is One Happy Husky

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Washington Huskies

While some of his University of Washington teammates left or mulled leaving following the coaching change, Dominque Hampton was too busy listening to the new guys tell him all about a position they were installing to contemplate going elsewhere.

They presented him with the concept of "the Husky," a hybrid linebacker and cornerback position named elsewhere that seemed ideal for his physical style of play and had him enthused.

"I loved what they were saying," said Hampton, who spoke with the media this week for the first time in his five-year UW football career. "I feel it fits me and my skill set pretty well."

The 6-foot-3, 216-pound junior from Glendale, Arizona, will now become sort of roving defensive back responsible for covering slot receivers yet coming up and supporting the run defense rather than patiently waiting for the action to come to him.

It's all part of a total makeover for Hampton, who will wear one-third the number he sported last season — going from 21 to 7 — but could earn triple or quadruple the playing time after becoming a three-game starter at safety in 2021.

For Hampton, his Husky career has continuously evolved across the secondary. Jimmy Lake recruited him as a cornerback and then had him put on 25 pounds and move to safety. He'll compete against players such as sophomore Kamren Fabiculanan and incoming freshman Tristan Dunn to start at the Husky position.

He's played in 30 games and drew the first starts of his career last fall against Stanford, Oregon and Arizona State. He had a career-best 8 tackles against the Ducks with a forced fumble and a pass break-up.

Yet Hampton seemed impatient at times and wanted to attack more. He drew unnecessary roughness penalties against Michigan and Oregon, and it cost him playing time. 

As much as anyone, he welcomes the arrival of Kalen DeBoer from Fresno State and the promise of everything on offense and defense moving up-tempo. He appreciates the new guy's straight-forward approach to him and his teammates.

"We'd run through a wall for him at this point," Hampton said. "He's an honest man. We like that."

Running through walls readily appears to be part of the job description for the Huskies' Husky position.

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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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