Inside The Huskies

After Confusing Recruitment, O'Dea Edge Rusher Picks Huskies

David Schwerzel will play at the UW after earlier commitments to UCLA and Stanford.
Dan Raley|
David Schwerzel will join the Huskies, not UCLA.
David Schwerzel will join the Huskies, not UCLA. | schwerzel

David Schwerzel was headed to Stanford and then he wasn't. He flipped from the Cardinal to UCLA, with both schools undergoing coaching changes.

Next he de-committed from the Bruins, before committing once more before signing day arrived.

Yet at 12:25 p.m. on Wednesday, as Jedd Fisch was getting ready to discuss his nearly two dozen University of Washington signees at the top of the hour, the 6-foot-4, 250-pound edge rusher from Seattle's O'Dea High School couldn't pull the trigger on his UCLA scholarship papers.

He went on social media to explain himself, posting, "Due to unforeseen circumstances, I have not yet signed. Still praying, discussing, and weighing out my options. This is one of the biggest decisions that I will make in my life."

Nearly six hours later, shortly before the UCLA-Washington basketball game tipped off at Alaska Airlines Arena, Schwerzel spurned one of those schools for the other.

Rivals revealed that the Schwerzel, indeed, would play for the UW after all, becoming the Huskies' 24th roster newcomer once he signs the paperwork.

He is considered the state's No. 2 prospect behind Kennedy Catholic edge rusher Derek Colman-Brusa, who signed with the Huskies earlier in the day.

Now he can return his focus to O'Dea's bid for another 3A state championship. The Fighting Irish (12-1) meet Mount Tahoma (13-0) and its UW cornerback signee Elijah Durr on Saturday night at, of all places, Husky Stadium.

Playing just four miles away at inner-city O'Dea, Schwerzel initially showed an interest in UCLA because he had a connection with Bruins defensive coordinator Ikaika Malloe, a former UW player and coach.

While stats for this season aren't readily available, Schwerzel had a junior campaign in which he played a short season of eight games for the 13-0 and state champion Fighting Irish, and came up with 24 tackles, 4 tackles for loss and 3 sacks. 

An aggressive player, his motor always seems to be running, though it obviously sputtered a little through an emotional recruitment.

He first picked Stanford in October after the UCLA coaching change and everything looked good to go for the Cardinal but the Bruins kept talking to him.

“I loved Westwood when I visited,” Schwerzel said following his initial commitment in June. “I loved the coaching staff and the family vibe and everything just felt right."

Yet not right enough, especially since the Bruins are only in the process of hiring new coach Bob Chesney from James Madison and he's not on the job yet.

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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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