Inside The Huskies

UW's Manu Files Suit Against NCAA Over Eligibility Concerns

The Husky linebacker is seeking a fifth season to play without further limiting this one.
Dan Raley|
Jacob Manu still has to figure out how his career should continue.
Jacob Manu still has to figure out how his career should continue. | Dave Sizer photo

Jacob Manu, in pulling on a uniform from Arizona to Washington, always has been a very determined college football player.

He went from lightly recruited to freshman starter in Tucson for Jedd Fisch's program, with his coach describing how he had to remove the high-spirited linebacker from the scout team because he was so disruptive to the first-team preparation.

As a sophomore for Arizona, Manu had a sensational season, becoming a first-team All-Pac-12 selection and the league's leading tackler with 116.

Yet his career suffered a setback once he went down with a non-contact knee injury in a game for the Wildcats in 2024, and Manu next chose to reunite with Fisch at the UW, recovered from his surgery and recently became a starter again.

This week, Manu sued the NCAA for the right to play a fifth season in 2026 no matter what he does going forward with this Husky team -- citing the disparity in the redshirt rule that permits someone to play four seasons within a five-year time span but impacts others in what he deems an unfair manner.

"Successful college athletes who are forced to expend eligibility without access to a fifth season are denied their most valuable years of competition, exposure and professional development," said the suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle.

The NCAA has been considering implementing a "five-and-five" rule that enables athletes to play without restriction over a five-year cycle, but hasn't moved on it.

Fisch earlier mentioned how Manu stands to benefit in a much greater manner from name, image and likeness opportunities should he return to the UW in 2026, as well as became a team captain and probably enhance his NFL opportunities.

As it stands now, Manu would be forced to play a partial season in 2024 (seven games) and another partial season this fall (four games and the postseason) in order to come back next year, and the fairness of that is being challenged.

"He and I have talked about this at length about what's the best situation that we can keep his success and allow him to have great success both in the collegiate level and hopefully have a chance at the NFL," Fisch said.

The UW coach does not have a law background, rather he graduated from Florida with a degree in criminology.

Fisch had talked about the possibility of Manu playing in four games -- he's appeared in two so far -- and redshirting while appearing in the postseason without penalty and returning next season.

Yet that would mean the 5-foot-11, 225-pound defensive player would have to sit out five games while healthy to preserve his eligibility under the current rules, which seems highly unlikely for this extra motivated player.

"Luckily Jacob and I have a very close relationship so every now and then I have to put him in a headlock and remind him we're going to do what's best for him and for the team," Fisch said, half-joking.

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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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