Why Demond Williams Might Not Be Leaving Any Time Soon

College football continues to work in strange and mysterious ways.

Just when it appeared in January that Demond Williams Jr. might not play more than two seasons for the University of Washington football team, the junior quarterback conceivably could end up taking snaps in Montlake for five years.

This past Friday night, coach Jedd Fisch made that surprising disclosure following the Spring Game held in Husky Stadium while alluding to a proposed NCAA rule that would give all players a blanket five years to complete their college eligibility.

"As of now, he'll have three years he can play," Fisch said. "This new five-for-five rule will allow him to be here for two more years [beyond 2026]."

If it played out that way, Williams would be the UW starting quarterback through the 2028 season, which opens at home against Eastern Washington and involves other games against Michigan at home and Ohio State on the road.

The NCAA board of directors is leaning toward implementing a straight up playing window that would grant five years of eligibility over five seasons to everyone while doing away with redshirts and medical waivers.

Williams, who is said to receive a seven-figure financial incentive as the starting Husky quarterback, no doubt would welcome the added security of another college season just in case to develop his talents before turning to pro football.

However, the other four scholarship signal-callers on the roster initially can't be too pleased by this because, barring any NFL or injury interruptions for Williams, they just saw their likelihood of getting on the field as the No. 1 guy at the position pushed back until 2029.

Demond Williams Jr. signs an autograph for a young fan at the Spring Game. | Dave Sizer photo

That group would include sophomore Elijah Brown, a Stanford transfer; redshirt freshmen Kini McMillan and Dash Beierly; and freshman Derek Zammit.

It was not quite four months ago that Williams, a 5-foot-11, 191-pound player from Chandler, Arizona, momentarily declared his intentions to enter the transfer portal before reversing his plans a few days later, with legal action by the Big Ten and the UW strongly suggested.

Williams, a 15-game UW starter, reportedly was being courted by LSU with a much richer offer, though no one has publicly confirmed as much.

Now the playmaker might not leave any time soon and could make a serious run at Jake Browning's school-record 53 quarterback starts.

It also would give Williams more time to convince the NFL why it should draft a speedy quarterback who doesn't stand 6 feet tall, which seems to be a prerequisite.

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