Seven Years of Sirmon for UW Football Continues with Cam

The walk-on from a football family is firmly in the mix for a pass-catching role.

For all of the continuous change surrounding University of Washington football over the past seven years, with four coaching staffs taking the Huskies from a 4-8 meltdown to the CFP national championship game, and various players shuffling in and out through the wide-open transfer portal, one thing remains the same in Montlake.

A Sirmon remains on the UW roster -- and we're preaching to the choir with that revelation.

In this case, it's the wiry, tough-minded Cam Sirmon, the third of three cousins and the most unconventional player from this football-minded family, if not the most determined.

The 6-foot, 195-pound junior from Missoula, Montana, by way of Wenatchee, Washington, is a Husky wide receiver for the second consecutive year after spending a season at running back and yet another season before that at quarterback, while mixing in as a special-teamer on kickoff returns.

And he's done this all as a walk-on, or non-scholarship athlete, to the point he's made himself possibly the UW's most deserving player to receive financial aid who currently doesn't have it, now that linebacker Drew Fowler is fully paid for.

More than ever, this Sirmon seems to have finally found a permanent position home at wide receiver, where he's solidly in the mix while running primarily with the second-team offense.

"Sirm takes the game very serious," receivers coach Kevin Cummings said. "He's a grown man. He knows what he wants to do. He's not scared to compete, by any means."

Cam Sirmon hauls in a spring practice pass.

Skylar Lin Visuals

In 2021, Cam Sirmon came to the Huskies as an aspiring quarterback after he was offered and passed on a scholarship from Montana,. He joined the UW when his cousin, Jackson, was a starting linebacker and they were teammates that season before the latter left for California. Cam became part of a quarterback position group that for three prior seasons had included another cousin, Jacob, who would transfer to Central Michigan and then to Northern Colorado.

This youngest Sirmon made a breakthrough in the final game of that thorny 4-8 season, getting on the field with the kickoff-return team and running one play as an option quarterback against Washington State in the Apple Cup.

In 2022, Sirmon appeared in four games as a running back before an injury sidelined him for much of the season. He rushed three times for 12 yards and caught a pass for 14 yards against Portland State.

Last season, Kalen DeBoer's coaching staff had him at wide receiver and used him in six games. He caught a pass for 8 yards against California.

Cam Sirmon turns up field after catching a spring pass.

Skylar Lin Visuals

More than ever, Sirmon acts like he belongs, scholarship or not. He's filled out physically. He runs crisp routes. He has soft hands.

In the eighth spring practice, he ran a precise route along the back line of the end zone and pulled in a tight-window TD pass from Will Rogers.

To no surprise, Sirmon knows the intricacies of each receiving role for the Huskies, which will only benefit him.

"What he's done a really good job of is he's been able to learn all three spots," Cummings said. "All these guys are trying to compete for spots, The more positions you know, the faster you get on the field."

As he's shown, Sirmon would learn every position on this football team if needed for him to play for the Huskies.

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