Inside The Huskies

The UW's On, Off and On Again Pursuit of Esun Tafa

The Huskies will get an official visit out of the Utah player who de-committed from them.

Dan Raley

Esun Tafa and UW tight-ends coach Jordan Paopao recently met at Corner Canyon High School in Utah.
Esun Tafa and UW tight-ends coach Jordan Paopao recently met at Corner Canyon High School in Utah. / UW

All apparently is not lost for the University of Washington football program in the recruitment of Esun Tafa, who over the past three months has committed to the Huskies, de-committed and agreed to visit Montlake in June.

It's like a teenaged couple that continues to break up and make up.

However, Tafa, a well-regarded offensive tackle in the Class of 2026 from Corner Canyon High School in Draper, Utah, had a valid reason to push back on the Huskies after Brennan Carroll left as offensive coordinator and offensive-line coach to join his father's Las Vegas Raiders staff.

That the 6-foot-4, 305-pound Tafa, a 4-star recruit, would reconsider the Huskies, who have a new line coach in Michael Switzer, also is a testament to the UW's persuasive recruiting ways.

The downside for Jedd Fisch's staff, which initially gained Tafa's commitment on Nov. 25 over the efforts of Oregon and Utah, is USC has now entered the mix, complicating things with a big push for this Utah kid.

Tafa recently informed 247Sports he has official visits arranged on three consecutive weekends in June: the UW on the 6th, USC on the 13th and Utah on the 20th.

Even with Tafa's earlier commitment, the home state Utes have never really given in on their pursuit of this local standout who appears to be a must-have for them, with that staff even getting him on campus before he withdrew his UW pledge.

Yet the Huskies are still in the running for this player they once had in tow and hope to lock in again.

For the latest UW football and basketball news, go to si.com/college/washington

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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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