Commentary: What can Huskies expect this season from breakout RB Jonah Coleman?
A picture is worth 1,000 … grams of protein. Or maybe a 1,000-calorie-a-day deficit. Or just a 1,000-percent effort — as a coach might say — to get one’s body in peak form.
That’s what Huskies running back Jonah Coleman displayed on X earlier in the month.
The soon-to-be senior posted a before-and-after pic of himself on the social-media platform showcasing his cut from 16.8 percent body fat to 14.2. And though you could argue posing may have played a role in the stark difference between the photos, the results are undeniable. The man is jacked and ripped.
This is an auspicious sign for a Washington team heading into Season 2 of the Jedd Fisch era. A year ago at this time, the UW coach didn’t have much of an idea of what to expect given limited number of scholarship players he had coming into the spring.
But now he has more than 75 under scholarship along with 20 walk-ons. Coleman might be the most talented of all.
True, the primary source of hype for the 2025 Huskies is sophomore quarterback Demond Williams Jr., who started the final two games of the season and shined in the Sun Bowl. His upside may land him in New York for a certain ceremony one day.
In terms of reliability, though, there may be nobody on this roster above Jonah. The Stockton, Calif., native has improved every season. It should surprise nobody if his senior year is the most memorable of all.
“Jonah knows this is his year. This is his last year of playing college football. There’s no surprises here, he’s played three full years. So when you have that dream and that desire, you know your habits of today have to match your dreams for tomorrow,” Fisch said at a news conference Monday. “We talk about that with our team, and I think that’s an opportunity right now for Jonah’s habits certainly showed up and that photo reflected it.”
Preceding the praise for Coleman was acclaim for UW’s nutrition staff. Fisch said he is used to giving the strength coaches their due, but wants to make sure the folks on the food side are properly recognized.
Washington used to use catering services for the majority of their meals. Now, they typically turn to “performance chefs” for personalized nutrition plans. Athletes still have to put the work in and have proper discipline, though. Coleman has exemplified both.
This might be frightening for opponents given what the man has accomplished in his three years in college. Last year at Washington, Coleman amassed 1,053 yards on 193 carries — good for 5.5 yards per rush. He added 10 touchdowns. The year before at Arizona, he ran for 871 yards on 128 carries, good for 6.8 yards per carry. Pro Football Focus ranked Coleman as the fourth-best returning running back in the nation, noting his 4.6 yards after contact per attempt. Doesn’t hurt that he has collected more than 1,900 receiving yards over the past two seasons, too.
Fisch said he expects Coleman’s weight loss to make him even quicker. Huskies offensive coordinator Jimmie Dougherty? He said UW has the best running back in the country.
“He put the work in to get to where he is right now. And it’s not that he wasn’t working hard before, and he’s always been talented, but I’m so excited to see what he does,” Dougherty said. “The sky’s the limit for Jonah, how far and how high and how many yards and touchdowns and all that — I think it’s an extremely high bar for him. That’s how he wants it. He’s going to go after it and attack it.”
If there is any concern for fans regarding Coleman’s potential next season, it might lie in last season’s final two games. He had just three yards on 11 carries vs. Oregon, and he had just 42 yards on nine carries vs. Louisville in the Sun Bowl. It’s possible these were simply the results of the Huskies meeting their toughest opponent of the year one game, and playing in a relatively meaningless bowl game the next. But … those were also the two games Williams Jr. started.
Probably not a lot to worry about. And if there were some cohesion issues, they can be ironed out over the course of spring and fall camp.
All that matters is that the expectations for the Huskies have grown since this time last year. This is true of their star running back as well.