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Stepping on the Scale with the Shrinking yet Progressing Ulumoo Ale

The huge Husky seems to have settled in at defensive tackle.
Dan Raley|
Stepping on the Scale with the Shrinking yet Progressing Ulumoo Ale
Stepping on the Scale with the Shrinking yet Progressing Ulumoo Ale

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Washington Huskies

One of the telling things about a new University of Washington football staff is how these coaches view things differently from the old ones.

One of the first orders of business for Kalen DeBoer's guys is they determined Ulumoo Ale was a defensive tackle, not an offensive guard. 

They also envisioned him a lot smaller and, as fall camp proceeds, the 6-foot-6 Ale reports that he weighs a svelte 333 pounds — down from his Husky high of 368, which made him the Pac-12's second-heaviest player two years ago.

"They did a great job of making me drop," the big man said of the conditioning staff. "Not all at once. In sequences."

Through three fall practices, Ale has run with the No. 1 defense each day, first sharing the line with fellow junior Tuli Letuligasenoa and then redshirt freshman Kuao Peihopa once Letuligasenoa got a little banged up.

He says spring football was for adjusting to the position change and practice now is for refining what he's learned and getting comfortable with this new role.

"The guys let me play my own game," Ale said. "Obviously, I don't know what it is yet. I'm still figuring that out. I'm adding more weapons to the tool box every day."

An extra bonus for this big man is his Fife High School teammate, 6-foot-4, 275-pound Sekai Afoa-Asoau, is now a Husky edge rusher after transferring in from two-year College of San Mateo in the San Francisco area.

They could be sharing the huddle and playing side by side on defense this season, something they last did five years ago. 

"I'm just happy for him that he gets to come home," Ale said.

The same could be said about this smaller man named Ulumoo and his new 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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