Inside The Huskies

Taimani Expected Backlash After Transferring from UW to Oregon

The defensive tackle will play at Husky Stadium for the first time since leaving.
Dan Raley|
Taimani Expected Backlash After Transferring from UW to Oregon
Taimani Expected Backlash After Transferring from UW to Oregon

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Washington Huskies

Sam "Taki" Taimani returns to Husky Stadium on Saturday afternoon for the first time since the 2021 Apple Cup, when he was a starting University of Washington defensive tackle.

The sixth-year senior Oregon defensive tackle went out the door following four seasons in Montlake without waiting around to meet new coach Kalen DeBoer.

Taimani was one of about a dozen Huskies who exited following the 4-8 downturn that cost coach Jimmy Lake his job, yet his departure was different — he transferred to Oregon, to the hated arch rival, to an unthinkable landing spot.

Surrounded by media this week in Eugene, he addressed his decision that proved so unpopular in Seattle once he posted about it on social media. 

"Coming here, I know the risk of what I was going to get," Taimani said, alternately smiling at the questions and chewing gum. "I'm finally at a better level. I'm playing at a better speed and I think I'm playing better overall. I don't regret it at all."

The thing about Taimani's situation is, had he stayed, the Utah native would have answered to his third different Husky defensive-line coach in three seasons once DeBoer's staff got settled, so unsettled was the program at the time. 

A two-season UW starter, the then 6-foot-2, 330-pound Taimani also would have had to get in better shape, something that became a mandate for three-fourths of the Husky roster by the new coaches, who felt the guys they inherited were too fat. 

At Oregon, he plays as a reserve defensive tackle at an even heavier weight. In six seasons, he's still awaiting his first college sack.

Taimani, who played briefly in last season's 37-34 loss to the UW in Eugene, may no longer be popular with the fan base, but he's still familiar with many of the Husky offensive linemen, of players he'll go up against this weekend, such as tackle Troy Fautanu and the Hatchett brothers Geirean and Landen, both guards, plus he regularly stays in touch with guard Nate Kalepo.

"That's a good O-line, a young O-line; knowing them, I respect them," Taimani said. "I know all those guys. Nate Kalepo is one of my good guys. We still talk. We talk the entire season."

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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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