Analysis: Jedd Fisch faces roster-retention headache as Washington’s depth chart dwindles

SEATTLE – Forty-four players appeared on the two-deep depth chart for Washington’s national championship game against Michigan on Jan. 8.

In the nine days since, 18 of them have either run out of eligibility, declared for the NFL draft or medically retired.

Eleven have entered the transfer portal (none of whom have thus far committed to a separate school).

Fifteen remain on UW’s active roster, including just two returning starters – senior linebacker Alphonzo Tuputala and junior cornerback Elijah Jackson.

To summarize: excluding special teams, the Huskies currently – key word – project to return 15 of 44 two-deep players (34.1%) and two out of 22 starters (9.1%).

On the whole, 16 scholarship Huskies have entered the transfer portal since the Michigan game. Tight end Tre Watson (Texas A&M) and cornerback Jaivion Green (Stanford) have found new homes, and standout corner Jabbar Muhammad will reportedly visit Texas and Alabama this week, with Washington out of the picture. Junior nickelback Dyson McCutcheon withdrew from the portal Tuesday, opting to return to UW.

That leaves 12 Huskies who new coach Jedd Fisch could conceivably reel back in: quarterbacks Will Rogers, Austin Mack and Will Haskell; offensive linemen Nate Kalepo, Parker Brailsford, Julius Buelow and Geirean Hatchett; safeties Asa Turner and Vincent Holmes; wide receiver Germie Bernard, nickelback Mishael Powell and linebacker Ethan Barr.

It leaves, potentially, zero returning starters from the Huskies’ historic offense last fall (unless Brailsford, Kalepo or Buelow reconsider). It also leaves a roster that sits at an alarming 62 occupied scholarships, 23 under the 85-man limit.

For now, it’s a feeding frenzy. The NCAA instituted a new rule this year that affords players a 30-day window to enter the portal following the departure of their coach. Otherwise, the only two windows when players can enter the portal without sacrificing a season of eligibility are Dec. 4 to Jan. 2 and April 16 to April 30.

Which means a few unfortunate programs – Alabama, Washington, Arizona, San Jose State, etc. – are being raided by everyone else.

At Alabama, for example, former UW coach Kalen DeBoer is experiencing his own exodus – with eight players (including standout safety Caleb Downs, left tackle Kadyn Proctor and wide receiver Isaiah Bond) entering the portal since iconic coach Nick Saban’s retirement.

By the time Fisch succeeded DeBoer at UW this week, the early transfer portal window had closed, and most premier players who plunged into the portal during that period had committed elsewhere. So prior to the start of spring practice in April, it’ll be difficult for Fisch to efficiently replace the players who leave.

Which leaves one overwhelming priority:

Recruit and retain the current roster.

“This afternoon we’re going to sit down with the personnel guys that have been here before and go through, really, who’s in the portal, and what’s that look like depth chart-wise? What’s the team look like right now?” Fisch said Tuesday. “Who do we have that is interested in returning? And (we’ll) start meeting with them 1-on-1.

“I wanted to go out on the road recruiting tomorrow, but I think I’m better served to be here the next couple days and try to meet with everybody that’s on the team and in the portal, or on the team and thinking about going in the portal, and seeing if I can get a better idea of the how, the why and what we can do.”

It’ll help, of course, for Fisch to expediently complete his coaching staff. UW has announced seven staff additions that followed Fisch from Arizona: offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Brennan Carroll, passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach Jimmie Dougherty, tight ends coach and special teams coordinator Jordan Paopao, running backs coach Scottie Graham, run game coordinator and defensive line coach Jason Kaufusi, secondary coach John Richardson, and director of strength and conditioning Tyler Owens.

Though he attended Fisch’s introductory news conference, the fate of wide receivers coach Kevin Cummings – who may be offered the offensive coordinator role under Brent Brennan at Arizona – remains unclear. The Huskies’ confirmed hires include three names with Seattle ties, as Dougherty and Paopao previously coached at UW and Carroll (the son of Pete Carroll) spent six seasons on the Seahawks’ staff.

“Our coaching staff in Arizona made the culture to work at Arizona,” Fisch noted Tuesday. “Those people are extremely important to me. When this opportunity came up on Saturday night, Sunday morning, I spoke with coach Dougherty, coach Carroll, coach Paopao, about their experiences here – living in Seattle, coaching at UW.

“ ‘What does that mean? What does that look like? Tell me everything.’ It’s going to be our goal to be able to get all of them here and get that crew to stay together. We have some fantastic coaches. I hope all of them come with us here and we’re able to bring that camaraderie, the personal touch, the families all together, and I think we will.”

As Fisch’s roster rapidly erodes, time is of the essence. UW needs many more than 62 scholarship players to successfully scrimmage and begin installing two new systems this spring. And for now, early enrollee freshman Dermaricus Davis is UW’s only scholarship quarterback – though portal entrants Rogers, Mack and Haskell could conceivably return.

But while UW’s existing depth chart dramatically dwindles, Fisch is focused on building a foundation for the future as well.

“The availability of scholarship players (in the transfer portal) is going to be interesting, to say the least,” Fisch said, referring to the transfer portal window being closed for most programs. “But we don’t just recruit for one year. We recruit for the eternity of college football.

“We are going to go out here tomorrow or the next day and build a ’25 class to try to make it the best possible recruiting class it can be. And then we’re going to see what happens over the course of these next couple weeks. I’m hoping to retain this team the best we can, and then if there are other available players in the portal, we’re going to look at those as well. But what it comes down to is, we want to maniacally recruit daily as long as we are here. We are going to recruit the ’25 class, the ’26 class, the ’27 class, the ’28 class and continue to try to build a roster we can all be very proud of.”