Inside The Huskies

Gaskin, Ta'amu and Ahmed Take Coach Up On Offer to Reconnect at UW

Since taking over Husky football, Kalen DeBoer has put out the welcome mat.
Dan Raley|
Gaskin, Ta'amu and Ahmed Take Coach Up On Offer to Reconnect at UW
Gaskin, Ta'amu and Ahmed Take Coach Up On Offer to Reconnect at UW

A football coaching change not only is hard on the current players, who have to audition their talents all over again for a new staff, the alums feel cast adrift.

It's like their parents sold the family house and someone new lives there.

With four University of Washington football coaching changes over the past 13 years, some of the new Husky leaders have done a better job than others in maintaining an open-door policy for former Huskies to come back and feel wanted.

At the height of the recruiting signing period this week, new UW leader Kalen DeBoer and his staff still took the time to meet with the UW's all-time leading rusher in Myles Gaskin (2015-18), who played under Chris Petersen; with defensive tackle Almeda Ta'amu (2008-11), who answered to Tyrone Willingham and Steve Sarkisian; and with running back Salvon Ahmed (2017-19), another Petersen ball carrier. 

This has been DeBoer's plan all along. In December, the former Fresno State coach wasn't 10 minutes into his introductory news conference presentation when he issued a blanket welcome for former Huskies to come back and mix with the new staff.

"I can tell you that I always want this to be home for you," he said. "It doesn't matter which staff you played for. It doesn't matter. This is always supposed to be home and you should always be welcome here. I can't wait to hear all the stories and learn all the traditions and be a part of that. It's only going to make us stronger in the years ahead." 

On Monday, Gaskin visited the football offices. He now plays for the Miami Dolphins, who are embroiled in high-level controversy after firing coach Brian Flores, who in turn sued the NFL and multiple teams for alleged racism practices. Flores was a big Gaskin supporter and now he's gone.

No wonder the Husky running back, a third-year pro from Lynnwood, Washington, wanted to come home to a place that feels comfortable. 

However, Husky offensive-line coach Scott Huff was the only face he recognized right off, the only holdover from Petersen's and later Jimmy Lake's staff.

On Wednesday, Ta'amu stopped by Montlake. He played the 2013 and 2014 seasons for the Arizona Cardinals and has been out of pro football for five years now. He looks considerably lighter than the 348 pounds he carried as a defensive lineman.

Ta'amu is a former resident of Kent, Washington, who played at Seattle's Rainier Beach High. The Huskies might consider enlisting Ta'amu's help in landing offensive tackle Josh Conerly Jr., a current Rainier Beach recruit who is considered the nation's top high school and remains unsigned. Conerly says he will choose next month from among Miami, Michigan, Oklahoma, Oregon, USC and the UW.

On Friday, Ahmed made a connection with DeBoer and company. A two-year pro, he's plays for the Miami Dolphins, which makes him still teammates with Gaskin.  

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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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