Even though it has been utilized for a few years, the era of the transfer portal is still an unprecedented time in college football history, affecting everyone, including Jedd Fisch and the Washington Huskies.
But it’s not just about adding players to the roster; it’s about fending off what Chris Petersen would call the vultures from going after some key players that could help the Huskies make a big jump in year two of Fisch’s leadership.
During his Monday press conference, he took some time to discuss the plan his coaching staff has in place to ensure his roster stays intact through the December window.
“I think there’s no question in this day and age that you have to make sure everyone on your team sees where they land, and where their value is, and everyone on your team understands what plans you have for them in the future,” Fisch said. “As we’re trying to build and construct the roster a certain way, those are conversations that we’ll have with every player, starting next week, and we’ll talk about where do they see themselves? Where do we see them? What kind of financial opportunities they might have through the revenue share that will kick in July 1, [and] through other avenues [like NIL collective Montlake Futures]. They’ll also probably talk about what other opportunities they think they might have outside of UW.”
“I think that all of us know, there’s really going to be very few teams that are just, like, isolated. I don’t know who’s going to have no one in the portal. I think, on the same token, it’s a matter of making sure that if you do lose a player to the portal or a player chooses to go in the portal, that it’s a good decision for everybody. You hate to see people go in there with nowhere to go. You hate to see people go in there and then feel like they’re missing out on something special. But on the same token, we also know that some people just want to go play, and they might see a better opportunity to go play somewhere else.
“On the same token, there might be other geographical decisions that go into this, so we’ll be ready for all of that. We expect to make some plays on some guys when they enter the portal from other programs, and then we also would expect that we’re going to have to fight hard to make sure we keep our team in check, and we’re looking forward to doing that.”
Washington showed with the way it was able to keep its 2023 team together that it has plenty of viable financial options to assist the coaching staff in making sure its players are taken care of and well-marketed both locally and nationally, which should be more than appealing to Fisch’s stars of tomorrow.
His response also naturally posed a follow-up question: have players on Washington’s roster already been contacted by other schools?
“I’m sure I do. I don’t know exactly who they are…or maybe I do,” he said with a smirk. “Of course, that’s going on. It’s the nature of the beast that we’re living in right now…There are opportunities for collectives to reach out to players on your team and others and legally do it. They’re a third-party group that is not regulated. There are opportunities for high-school coaches to reach out to staff and say, ‘Is this somebody you’re interested in?’ People can say they don’t answer the question, but I think that would mean probably people aren’t telling the truth.”
But those conversations about the future won’t be handled until the calendar flips over to December and the matchup with Oregon is in the rearview mirror.
“The key for our team is let’s spend six days focused on trying to beat Oregon. Let’s just do that. Let’s not worry about who’s reaching out, who’s trying to get what, what money looks like, and what negotiations look like, and let’s do everything we possibly can to beat Oregon. Then, when next week comes, [early] signing day is December 4, the portal opens on December 9. I’m sure there’s going to be a ton of discussions, and at that point in time, we can really visit, what is it going to look like in the future? What’s the 2025 calendar year going to look like? And what’s the team going to look like moving forward?”