Jacob Sirmon Changes Number, Hopes Good Things Come to Him with New Look

Washington's sophomore quarterback reverts to his old high school number as he pursues the Husky starting job. He wasn't the only one to switch.

Without any fanfare, Jacob Sirmon became No. 3 again.

It's the number he wore at Bothell High School. 

It's the digit the sophomore will answer to as he pushes to become the next University of Washington starting quarterback.

It used to belong to the Huskies' four-year starting quarterback Jake Browning.

Sirmon will share it now with All-American candidate Elijah Molden, the UW senior cornerback.

Hey, Babe Ruth wore it, bulging belly and all. 

And in Seattle, Russell Wilson wears it proudly.

A recent reshuffle of the Husky online roster shows Sirmon has swapped out his No. 11 for the single digit, giving up a UW quarterback number made memorable by Bill Douglas, Mark Brunell and Marques Tuiasosopo, all Rose Bowl starters. 

Actually, all of the current UW scholarship quarterbacks have new numbers. 

Among Sirmon's competitors, redshirt freshman Dylan Morris also swapped out his No. 16 for 9, incoming transfer and seventh-year senior Kevin Thomson chose No. 7 and incoming freshman Ethan Garbers will sport No. 10.

Garbers will wear a shirt previously identified with Jacob Eason and Jake Locker. Thomson will wear a jersey made visible by the Huard brothers, Damon and Brock. No UW quarterback has made 9 an unforgettable number. 

Of the other team number changes requested since the Las Vegas Bowl, junior All-American outside linebacker candidate Joe Tryon was the most prominent and will wear No. 7, dropping down from 9.

Others altering their identity some are sophomore running back Richard Newton, going from 28 to 6; senior running back Sean McGrew, from 25 to 5; sophomore cornerback Kyler Gordon, from 19 to 2; sophomore safety Cam Williams, from 16 to 6; and junior safety Alex Cook, from 11 to 5.

Sirmon hopes it will be his lucky number as he tries to claim the first-unit quarterback job after serving as the backup last season. Some consider him the leader prior to any practice sessions.

When the Huskies will get to wear these numbers on game day remains to be seen with the pandemic raging everywhere. 

Instead, resourceful players such as Sirmon, shown a few months back in this video, have gone number-less while trying to find a safe and secluded place to work out. 

While Sirmon has a history of wearing No. 3 as a schoolboy, he also considers Browning a mentor, giving him multiple reasons to show up in that jersey. Now it's up to him to give it some game time.