Things have changed mightily for the Washington Huskies since they lost to Michigan in the College Football Playoff National Championship in January.
Head coach Kalen DeBoer left to replace Nick Saban at Alabama. Heisman finalist quarterback Michael Penix Jr. was drafted No. 8 overall (Atlanta Falcons), top wideout Rome Odunze was right behind Penix at No. 9 (Chicago Bears), and offensive tackle Troy Fautanu went No. 20 overall (Pittsburgh Steelers).
Washington had 10 players drafted and over two dozen transfer players departed via the transfer portal this offseason, which is a staggering exodus and one hard for a program to overcome immediately from. New Washington head coach Jedd Fisch, who’s coming off a 10-3 season at Arizona, acknowledged how different the 2024 team is.
“We will have 46 new scholarship athletes on a team that competed in the National Championship,” Fisch said on Thursday at Big Ten Media Day. “We’ll have an entire new coaching staff, an entire new training staff, an entire new strength staff, an entire new nutrition staff, and 21 of 22 new starters on August 31st. That has never been done before, and we’re excited about that challenge.”
Fisch said that now is a “perfect time to rebrand and reboot” due to revenue sharing, NIL, and the NCAA increasing the scholarship restriction of 85 players to 105.
Projections don’t think the reboot will be successful right out of the gate for Fisch and Washington. ESPN’s FPI (Football Power Index) currently ranks Washington at No. 31 heading into the season and gives them just a 68.9 percent chance of winning at least six games. Washington finished last year with a 14-1 record and a final ranking of No. 12 in the FPI. Their odds of a Big Ten Championship during their first year in the conference aren’t high either. Washington has the ninth-best odds (+8000) of winning the Big Ten on DraftKings Sportsbook.
Despite potential growing pains in 2024, there are reasons for Washington fans to still be excited about the season. Washington brought in 28 transfer players, including former Mississippi State quarterback Will Rogers who has 40 career starts, 12,315 passing yards, and 94 touchdowns. Rogers is a worthy successor to Penix Jr. and someone whose experience and leadership will be leaned on heavily.
Then there’s new defensive coordinator Steve Belichick, the son of former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. Fisch noted that Belichick has been around the Washington program, as has former USC and Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll. Fisch finds Belichick and Carroll being around the program to be a selling point to recruits.
“It’s such an advantage for us when Coach Belichick comes out to practice, Coach Carroll comes out to practice,” Fisch explained. “You’ve got two of the four or five coaches of the Mount Rushmore of coaches that are completely invested in our football program, which is one of the main reasons that we say we’re going to give players the best chance to go play in the NFL.”
Belichick and Carroll being around the team won’t hurt, but they won’t be the men who are responsible for this reboot being a success or a sinker. If Washington winds up surpassing expectations it’ll mean Fisch was among the best coaches in college football this season. He is lasered in on his vision and is acknowledging all the uphill battles they’ve faced and those that are yet to come. He said he’s excited about the challenge, and the hope will be that makes his players excited right along with him.