Inside The Huskies

Punter Jack McCallister Goes from UW to Nebraska to Purdue

The former Husky special-teamer has had to adjust with schools turning to rugby-style punters.

Dan Raley

Former Huskies punter Jack McCallister has now transferred to Purdue after leaving Nebraska after exiting the UW.
Former Huskies punter Jack McCallister has now transferred to Purdue after leaving Nebraska after exiting the UW. / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Jack McCallister has had to shop his punting talents more than he envisioned all because the Australian-style approach to what he does suddenly became trendy.

After a brief dalliance with Nebraska, the former three-year University of Washington starter on Tuesday committed to Purdue.

For McCallister, it's been an extremely chaotic five months.

On December 2, he entered the transfer portal while agreeing to stay on and punt for the Huskies in the Sun Bowl. Against Louisville, he averaged 36.8 on six kicks -- nearly six yards below his season average -- with a long of 53 yards.

McCallister left the UW after Jedd Fisch's staff received a commitment from Australian rugby-style punter Dusty Zimmer, who ended coming to Seattle and leaving.

Once at Nebraska, McCallister had the same thing happen to him again -- the Cornhuskers informed him, after undergoing a special-teams coaching change, they preferred an Australian-style kicker after all rather than a traditional punter.

Coach Matt Ruhle and special-teams coordinator Mike Ekeler sat down with McCallister during spring football and suggested it would be best for him to go elsewhere in order to punt.

"This is an amazing young man, who committed to us and had the team mentality to stay with Washington through their bowl game and then came to us," Rhule told reporters. "As we made a coaching change, there's always collateral damage."

So McCallister, who averaged 42.5 yards a punt in three seasons with the UW, will play his final season for Purdue, which is rebuilding after firing coach Ryan Walters -- who's now the Husky defensive coordinator and brought the Boilermakers special-teams coach Chris Petrilli with him to Montlake.

To get the latest UW football and basketball news, go to si.com/college/washington

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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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