Jayden Wayne Comes Home from Miami, Schedules Weekend UW Visit

The edge rusher from Tacoma played in eight games as a freshman for the Hurricanes.

Jayden Wayne, who went about as far away as you can from Washington state to pursue a college football career, has returned to the neighborhood and is set to visit the University of Washington this weekend.

A 4-star recruit who fielded offers from nearly every major program in the country two years ago, the 6-foot-6, 245-pound Wayne entered the transfer portal this month after playing his freshman season at Miami.

Wayne certainly seems interested in checking out the UW again, even personally alerting this website of his pending tour of Montlake.

He played in eight games last season for the Hurricanes, starting once in the Pinstripe Bowl in a 31-24 loss to Rutgers at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York. He finished with 3 tackles in that outing, 13 for the year, including a half sack, as Miami finished 7-6.

Wayne played three seasons for Tacoma's Lincoln High School and became a national recruit before he moved to Florida and finished up his senior year at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, acclimating to that corner of the country.

With the UW football program going into a sudden downturn under coach Jimmy Lake, costing him his job, the Huskies never really had a shot at Wayne, who was adventuresome enough to consider any and all options and mov e 2,765 miles from home. He committed to Miami after he and his dad visited the school.

Wayne recently entered the transfer portal following the conclusion of Miami spring football practice, with websites that cover the ACC team suggesting he had come out of it as a second-teamer.

The Huskies actually seem fairly well stocked in edge rushers with seniors Zach Durfee and Voi Tunuufi, and sophomores Isaiah Ward, Jacob Lane and Lance Holtzclaw, with Ward the most accomplished as an 11-game starter with four sacks for Arizona last season.

However, new UW coach Jedd Fisch said he won't shy away from adding talented players to any position group if it makes his team better.

Wayne reportedly also is considering Pittsburgh, UCLA, Kansas and California as portal options.

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