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Inside The Huskies

Huskies Land Commitment From Coveted Colorado Lineman

Reis Russell revealed his college football decision on Monday morning.
Dan Raley|
Reis Russell on a 2025 UW spring visit.
Reis Russell on a 2025 UW spring visit. | UW

Reis Russell must have toured the University of Washington football facilities nearly a half-dozen times in recent years. A game here, a practice there, sometimes accompanied by his mom, once in the company of quarterback teammate Titus Huard.

The offensive lineman with a mop for a haircut and a perpetual smile most assuredly had a recruiting roadmap to follow all along, with Roger Rosengarten previously going from Russell's Valor Christian High School in Colorado to Montlake to the NFL.

Yet once the big boys moved in on Russell's recruiting process -- among them Georgia, Miami and USC -- nothing appeared certain in gaining his services, with image after image of the carefree kid wandering through Athens, South Beach and Los Angeles.

On Monday, however, the 6-foot-3, 295-pound Russell went back to square one of his recruitment and committed to the Huskies, according to Rivals, giving Jedd Fisch's coaching staff yet another significant boost to its 2027 class.

Russell became the 13th pledge for the Huskies -- and the fifth who rates as a 4-star recruit, which is certain to give the UW a jolt upward in the team recruiting rankings.

One look at this kid, his size and his personality, and one immediately envisions the second coming of Landen Hatchett.

He could be a Husky starter at guard or center, or both, just like the younger Hatchett.

For certain, this kid comes with deep football bloodlines, always a good sign in projecting his potential prowess.

He's the son of Matt Russell, 52, and a former NFL linebacker, a longtime personnel executive and a one-time Husky opponent.

Reis Russell and Titus Huard play for the same Colorado high school and are UW recruits.
Reis Russell and Titus Huard play for the same Colorado high school and are UW recruits. | Huar

The older Russell won the 1996 Butkus Award, given to the nation's top linebacker, and was a consensus All-American while playing for Colorado. In his final college outing, he shared in a 33-21 victory over a Corey Dillon-led UW team in the Holiday Bowl in San Diego.

The Husky quarterback for that game was Brock Huard, whose son, Titus, also is being recruited from Valor Christian by Fisch's staff, yet in the 2028 class.

Matt Russell next played three seasons for the Detroit Lions before multiple knee injuries curtailed his career.

He came home and worked for the Denver Broncos (2009-2020) as vice president of player personnel before joining the Philadelphia Eagles in a scouting capacity.

He'll now have the opportunity to bask in his son's college career in Seattle, to see if Reis can match Rosengarten, that once promising recruit from Valor Christian and now a Baltimore Ravens starter, for his football advancement.

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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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