Inside The Huskies

Vince Holmes Reportedly Headed to Portal For Third Time

The Husky safety has played in 29 games and started twice, including the recent Oregon outing.
Dan Raley|
Vince Holmes has entered the transfer portal yet again.
Vince Holmes has entered the transfer portal yet again. | Dave Sizer photo

Vince Holmes has plans to enter the transfer portal, which, for the University of Washington sophomore safety, is nothing new.

He entered the portal nearly two years ago when Kalen DeBoer left to become the Alabama coach, only to return to play for Jedd Fisch's staff.

Midway through 2024 spring football practice, the 6-foot, 190-pound Holmes declared his intentions to transfer again, after a brief trial as a wide receiver, only to reverse himself on both the portal and the position change.

This departure, however, sounds like the real deal this time for the San Jacinto, California, product, who appeared in 29 games for the Huskies and started twice, opening against USC last season and against Oregon last month.

Holmes becomes the seventh UW player to choose to leave with sophomore wide receiver Audric Harris, sophomore linebacker Deven Bryant, senior nickelback Dyson McCutcheon, redshirt freshman center Davit Boyajyan, sophomore cornerback/nickel Leroy Bryant and junior defensive tackle Bryce Butler.

When he first arrived, Holmes appeared to be on the fast track as a true freshman for the Huskies, playing special teams against Stanford, USC, Oregon State and in the Pac-12 championship game against Oregon.

Even with the coaching change, he was still in the mix, with Jedd Fisch's staff starting him against USC and he responded with a solid effort that included 4 tackles in a 26-21 victory over the Trojans.

However, the Huskies brought in three new safeties for this past season in transfers Alex McLaughlin and CJ Christian, plus freshman Rylon Dillard-Allen, and they all were ahead of him in spring ball and fall camp, with Christian eventually lost for the season with a turf toe injury.

Each of those three are returning next season.

While he was notable for being a hard-hitting player, Holmes likely will be remembered for an emotional gaffe that could have cost the UW a game at Rutgers in 2024.

Vince Holmes blends into Penn State's White-Out crowd.
Vince Holmes blends into Penn State's White-Out crowd. | Skylar Lin Visuals

With the first halfinside the final minute of play and the Huskies trailing 7-3, the UW's Lance Holtzclaw blocked a 38-yard field-goal attempt. Holmes was so excited about this he ran onto the field to celebrate only to get called for an illegal substitution because the play wasn't quite over.

Rather than the Huskies taking over immediate possession and blunting a scoring opportunity, the Scarlet Knights kept the ball and came up with a 15-yard touchdown pass, which might have been the difference in the eventual 21-18 loss.

Holmes, who came in with San Jacinto High School teammate Davon Banks, later a transfer to Boise State, finished with 11 tackles over three seasons.

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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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