Zach Durfee's Complicated but Promising Journey To Washington
Edge rusher Zach Durfee took the long road to get to the Washington football team, just to have his transfer waiver denied by the NCAA and he remains in limbo while the decision is appealed.
Making his situation even more complicated, this former University of Sioux Falls pass rusher originally contemplated playing a different college sport before settling on football in 2021.
The well-traveled Durfee, prior to enrolling at North Dakota State University in the fall of 2020, considered becoming a basketball player for Division III Gustavus Adolphus College in Saint Peter, Minnesota, according to a source close to him.
At Dawson-Boyd High School in Dawson, Minnesota, Durfee was known as a basketball player who also played football. He averaged 21 points and 10 rebounds per game during his senior season. Yet Durfee displayed enough talent on the football field, playing quarterback, wide receiver, and a little bit of safety too, that he decided to move forward on the gridiron.
"We've got some great players, but just there's a lot of things with his body type, not just playing the edge position, but he could be very involved in a lot of special teams," UW coach Kalen DeBoer said of the 6-foot-5, 250-pound player, "because he's a big guy who can run."
Football came with its share of struggles for Durfee, who suffered a broken leg as a junior and dealt with many nagging injuries throughout his high school career. To combat this, he began lifting weights, which led to a student manager discovering him in the North Dakota State weight room.
The manager encouraged Durfee to walk on with the Bison football program, but the coaching staff wasn't enthusiastic and informed him no roster spot was available. South Dakota State University told him the same thing.
Durfee, who by now wanted to play tight end, sent his high school video to Jon Anderson's coaching staff at Sioux Falls.
While the staff wasn't interested in him as a receiver, defensive-line coach Luke Olson saw enough potential to take a chance on Durfee as a defensive player. Durfee joined Sioux Falls, redshirted during the 2021 season and learned how to play this new position.
Edge rusher was made to order for Durfee from the moment he stepped on the field. He collected 4 sacks in the Cougars' season opener and finished the year with 11.5 and a spot on the All-NSIC Conference first team.
After a 7-0 start, the Cougars lost three of their final four games, which ultimately led to the firing of Anderson and his coaching staff. This prompted Durfee to enter his name in the transfer portal in search of a new football home.
Those former Sioux Falls coaches did everything they could to get his name out and help him find another team, which no doubt involved contacting DeBoer, who played and coached at Sioux Falls.
The now 6-foot-5, 250-pound Durfee originally thought he would join Iowa State and play for coach Matt Campbell. Last December, he took an official visit to Ames, Iowa. However, Washington co-defensive coordinator Chuck Morrell next came calling.
Morrell quickly established a relationship with Durfee's father, Jerry, because both grew up in Tyndall, South Dakota. Morrell's father, Russ, was one of the winningest football coaches in state history at Bon Homme High School.
After visiting Seattle, Durfee was sold on Seattle as his new home, took part in Husky spring practice and showed enough physical ability to play right away.
Yet the NCAA, in cracking down on players changing schools, ruled Durfee was a double transfer who would have to sit out this season and lose a year of eligibility, leaving him with two years.
Eventually Durfee should get everything sorted out in his football world after such a complicated and long-winding journey, but it probably won't happen until next year.
"He knows there's a lot of football for him down the road," DeBoer said. "It's whether it's sooner or later."
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