$33.6 million college football coach sounds off on Demond Williams transfer portal drama

A college football coach has addressed the controversy surrounding Demond Williams' initial decision to enter the transfer portal.

Dec 13, 2025; Inglewood, CA, USA; Washington Huskies head coach Jedd Fisch runs on to the field after defeating the Boise State Broncos in the LA Bowl at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

The NCAA transfer portal is rapidly reaching the end of the two-week window for players to enter in hopes of finding new programs to compete at next season. The portal opened on Jan. 2 and will officially close on Friday.

Thousands of college football players decided to enter the transfer portal in the weeks after the regular season wrapped up. Some of the most important entries in the 2026 portal cycle are quarterbacks looking for better situations in the Power Four ranks.

One quarterback that appeared to be heading for the NCAA transfer portal was Washington signal caller Demond Williams Jr. Instead, he stayed with the Huskies and will have two seasons of eligibility remaining.

The 5-foot-11, 190-pounder originally committed to Jedd Fisch at Arizona as a part of the Wildcats' 2024 recruiting class. When Kalen DeBoer was hired away from Washington to replace Nick Saban at Alabama, Fisch left Arizona for Washington and brought Williams along with him.

Will Rogers started the majority of the 2024 season for Washington, but the Huskies featured Williams in all 13 games his freshman year. He finished 82-of-105 passing for 944 yards, eight touchdowns and an interception while rushing for 282 yards and two touchdowns.

Washington’s Demond Williams Jr. (2) runs the ball and makes a touchdown during the 91st Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl | GABY VELASQUEZ/ USA TODAY / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Williams started all 13 games for the Huskies in 2025. He passed for 3,065 yards, 25 touchdowns and eight interceptions and ran for another 611 yards and six touchdowns. Williams was named All-Big Ten Honorable Mention by the Big Ten coaches for his 2025 season.

The Huskies negotiated a contract extension with Williams to return as their quarterback next season on Jan. 2. Four days later, it was reported that Williams was entering the NCAA transfer portal with a do-not-contact tag with LSU and Miami as likely destinations in mind.

Washington fought hard to enforce the agreement, and Williams' agent, Doug Hendrickson, dropped him after he entered the transfer portal. On Jan. 7, Williams announced he would not be leaving the Huskies and that he was "fully committed" to the future at Washington.

A week has passed since the controversy surrounding Williams' situation ended. Jedd Fisch addressed speculation about Williams during a media availability on Wednesday.

"I think that there was a lot of speculation on who was getting involved and who was trying to get involved. I don't think it's hard to kind of figure out through just what was going on at that moment in time in college football and who was looking for an elite quarterback," Fisch said.

"I don't think that's that confusing. But nothing ever got to the point- there was no visit, there was no him seeing and talking to another coach."

LSU has now acquired a trio of quarterbacks in Sam Leavitt (Arizona State), Husan Longstreet (USC) and Landen Clark (Elon) from the transfer portal. Miami is still on the hunt for its 2026 signal caller.

Washington Huskies head coach Jedd Fisch in the first half of the LA Bowl | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images