Huskies Try New Practice Venue -- Move Everything to the East Field

The UW hadn't held a total workout there since Jimmy Lake was coach.

Each University of Washington spring football practice has a different wrinkle to it with Jedd Fisch in charge. On Thursday, the new coach sent his players through a near three-hour workout held entirely on the East practice field -- something that hadn't happened since Jimmy Lake was in charge.

For some Huskies, using that venue as a full practice site again easily could have conjured up bad memories, considering the 2021 team bottomed out with a 4-8 record and Lake was fired before the season ended.

For the past two years, former UW coach Kalen DeBoer preferred to hold all of his practices, weather-permitting, in Husky Stadium, sending only position groups or special-team players onto the East field.

Fisch opened spring ball by having his players use Husky Stadium, Dempsey Indoor and the East field simultaneously at times in what resembled a three-ring circus format.

The UW coach said he preferred not to use Husky Stadium for practice purposes because the coach feels the game-day surface is a sacred place that should be used only for the real thing.

With that said, UW football fans were treated to an intimate setting at the practice field, where many of them have never been closer to the action. In the case of offensive tackle Kahlee Tafai, they were probably a little too close.

Tafai, a 6-foot-5, 327-pound redshirt freshman, ran off the field after the first few practice activities and vomited practically at the feet of some fans, though everyone was separated by movable metal fencing.

Other observations from spring practice No. 5, which represented one third of the way through spring ball, were as follows:

Husky secondary members had a very good day, coming up with several interceptions. Junior cornerback Davon Banks, after missing almost all of the 2023 season with an upper-body injury, stole two passes thrown by freshman Demond Williams Jr. On the second one, Banks threw it high into the air as his defensive teammates howled at the turnover.

Freshman safety Peyton Waters broke on a ball near his goal line and intercepted a Will Rogers pass, while senior safety Thaddeus Dixon likewise pilfered a Rogers throw. Indiana transfer Jordan Shaw stole a Williams pass while down on one knee.

Offensively, sophomore wide receiver Denzel Boston continues to show up as everyone's favorite passing target as he makes his case to become the Huskies' No. 1 receiver. Boston high-pointed a Rogers pass over the outstretched hands of Arizona cornerback transfer Ephesians Prysock, kept his balance and ran up the sideline for what amounted to a 70-yard score.

A couple of UW players changed position for this practice, with redshirt freshman Vincent Holmes notably returning to safety, where he played in 2023, after giving wide receiver a brief trial run. The 6-foot, 174-pound Holmes was a 4-star recruit as a defensive back from San Jacinto, California, and appeared in four Husky games last season largely as a special-teams player.

The 6-foot-4, 217-pound Owens Coutts, a senior walk-on from Seattle who hasn't appeared in any games, has moved from wide receiver to tight end, with the latter position in need of another body or two. The attraction to Coutts is he's a tall guy who can really run. He'll need to add maybe 20 pounds to get in the mix, though.

Junior edge rusher Maurice Heims, who got hurt with a neck stinger last spring and had to be transported to a local hospital by emergency vehicle for further evaluation, was left flat on his back during Thursday's practice with an upper-body injury, attended to by multiple team trainers, helped off the field and didn't return.

Finally, Fisch showed up with a bullhorn strapped around his shoulder for the first time to make sure he was heard. While Bill Belichick's UW visit was up and he went home, Fisch wasn't done entertaining a football royalty. On Thursday, he welcomed former NFL coach Jack Del Rio to the UW practice. His son, Luke Del Rio, is a Husky offensive analyst.

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