Inside The Huskies

Huskies Continue Pursuit of Latest Puyallup Headliner

Gecova Doyal is a 4-star offensive tackle drawing a lot of recruiting attention.
Dan Raley|
Gecova Doyal from Puyallup is picking up a lot of recruiting attention.
Gecova Doyal from Puyallup is picking up a lot of recruiting attention. | Doya

Inside Puyallup High School is an oak trophy case that tells the story of all the great ones who have come through this place, among them football headliners such as the Huards, Hobert, Kralik, Gallagher and Looker.

They wore Puyallup purple jerseys on the football field and each next traded them in for a different shade at the University of Washington.

These days, said trophy case continually serves as a backdrop for recruiting photos involving Gecova Doyal, who plays offensive tackle, right and left, for the Vikings.

Again, that's Puyallp, not Minnesota. Just yet.

Last week, UW coach and Jedd Fisch and offensive-line coach Michael Switzer used the lengthy trophy case for a background when they posed for a recruiting moment with Doyal, who stands 6-foot-4 and 285 pounds and is the latest Puyallup showcase player.

Oregon and Stanford previously did the same with the 4-star recruit, positioning him in front of the enclosed hardware and plaques. There was Doyal with Ducks coach Dan Lanning and a host of Cardinal football personnel.

Everyone wants a piece of Doyal, who was one of the featured players for Puyallup's 12-1 football team that made it to the 4A semifinals this past season before it lost to eventual state champion Sumner 42-35.

While not as overwhelmingly heavy as some UW prospects now being pursued -- 400 pounds is tops so far -- Doyal moves well for a lineman, especially a tackle.

The Huskies have been giving this guy from the Class of 2027 the full-court press. They had him out for the 2025 season opener against Colorado State, had Switzer play him a home visit on January 16 and Fisch and that coach came through the school last Thursday.

As with all top-flight linemen in this state, the UW faces stiff competition in landing Doyal.

Other local linemen with big credentials played this past season at Penn State and Texas A&M.

Doyal has Miami, Tennessee, Kentucky, SMU and Texas A&M among his more than a dozen scholarship offers.

The Huskies already have received a pair of local commitments from wide receivers Brayden Pope from Sumner, who on the field against Doyal in the state semis; and Graham-Kapowsin's Maurice Williams, so they're working the home state talent hard.

There might not be a bigger trophy case, though, than that one at Puyallup High.

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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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