A Huskies quarterback leaves, UW threatens to sue

Huskies football star quarterback Demond Williams Jr., announced he's leaving the University of Washington and entering the transfer portal. It's a shocking turn of events after the sophomore signed a contract to continue with the Huskies just last Friday.

Williams wrote on his Instagram that he was grateful for his time with the team but has to “do what is best for me and my future.” UW has signaled it will file a lawsuit to enforce the contract.

Danny O'Neil is the author of The Dang Apostrophe, a Substack newsletter on Seattle sports, and he has been following this story.

This interview has been edited for clarity.

Kim Malcolm: How surprised were you by this?

Danny O’Neil: I was shocked. On Friday, when the school published announcements that Demond Williams had re-signed with Washington, it really hadn't even been on my radar that that was a consideration. He came to Washington with Jedd Fisch, who had recruited him to Arizona, which is where Jedd worked before taking the UW job. And he's really been the person that they've built this team around and and he was going to be a centerpiece of that. And now he's indicated he's leaving.

William says he's entering the transfer portal. For those who don't know, what is it?

Essentially, it is a database of all players who are declaring that they're potentially leaving the school that they've played for. And it's basically just a filing mechanism that informs other schools that this player is looking to leave. And then, according to the rules, those schools can start contacting players. But in practice, at a high-level college football program, which Washington is, this basically signals that the player is going to go somewhere else. So that's, I think, how everyone is assuming this will play out.

It does seem like the University of Washington is planning on legal action here. Would their intent be to actually try to enforce the contract and force them to play for the team next year?

It's hard to give any definite answers, because this is all fairly unprecedented, but I don't think anyone expects that the outcome of this is going to be Demond Williams playing for Washington next year. The phrase I've heard used is "liquidate damages" — that any litigation will be about getting compensation for the fact that there was a signed contract that the school had with Demond Williams that he is breaking, and I guess it's possible it could affect his eligibility to play at another school. But I don't think anyone expects that the resolution here is going to be Demond Williams plays for the Huskies in 2026.

Huskies head coach Jedd Fisch called Williams the future of the program. So how big a blow is this to the team?

It's huge. He was a really great player and was poised to be one of the top players in the country. How much will this hurt Washington's chances next season? It's not as dire as it would have been five or six years ago, and the reason for that is Washington is now going to recruit a quarterback who played somewhere else last year. They're going to get someone who can step in right away. I'm not going to tell you that they'll be better off for this, but this doesn't necessarily sink their season.

It's been so tumultuous since the name, image, and likeness era started just a few years ago. There is so much money now that is being chased by everybody. How does this end? Where do we go from here?

There's going to be a lot of people that talk about that. I think that litigation, like the type that everyone expects Washington to pursue, will help establish some boundaries. But the real problem here isn't the money, which you mentioned. The money is the accelerant. The problem is that the money is being pumped in at a time when everything from basic eligibility guidelines to the restrictions on transfers are evaporating. It used to be if a player like Demond Williams transferred schools, he would have to sit out a full season. He wouldn't be able to play for anyone this next year. He would have to spend a year waiting. That's changed over the past decade.

I'm not sure whether that's right or wrong, but I do know that that sort of fluidity makes it harder to maintain enthusiasm and to feel like you know the guys on the team you're cheering for.

Listen to the interview by clicking the play button above.