Coach Jedd Fisch has already anointed quarterback Demond Williams Jr. as the future face of the Washington Huskies, and starter Will Rogers is doing everything he can to ensure the freshman is prepared when he steps into the full-time starting role in 2025.
Fisch has spoken at length about the bond Williams and Rogers have formed over the season, stating that the two are rarely spotted without each other at the team facility.
The head coach offered some extra insight to former Michigan All-American tight end Jake Butt, who played for Fisch in 2015 and 2016. Butt was on the call of Washington’s 26-21 win over USC and shared what his former coach told him during their pregame meeting on the Locked On Huskies Podcast.
“Will has established himself as a leader in this program,” Butt said. “Obviously, he’s played a ton of football and has leaned into Jedd Fisch’s plan, this team, and this program, and what we were told this week is that Jedd meets with the quarterbacks each as individuals.”
“He said that Will Rogers, unprovoked, told Jedd, ‘Hey, listen, in these next few weeks, I’m the leader, but Demond has to take over this leadership role.’ He said he needs to move to the side a little bit, and ‘we,’ meaning Rogers, Fisch, and Washington’s coaching staff, have to let Demond start to lead and give him some of those opportunities.”
For a player with 14,599 passing yards and 107 touchdowns under his belt, that’s an empowering move from Rogers, who has embraced his role on a rebuilding team, even though that might not be what he signed up for when he originally committed to Washington.
“For a guy in Will Rogers who could get some shots at the NFL, but who knows, this could very well be the last few quarters of his football career, and he’s thinking about the next guy in a program he didn’t commit to out of college. Think about the loyalty, maturity, and leadership there.”