Dawgman Radio: A Washington Huskies athletics podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

The guys from Dawgman.com - Chris Fetters and Scott Eklund - are back to talk about the second half of June and how the Washington Huskies are poised to attack the rest of the planned official visits. To start, Scott opines on whether or not the Huskies can actually put together their best recruiting class ever. Currently UW stands at 15th overall in the 247Sports' team recruiting rankings. What will it take for them to finish in record-setting fashion? Then the guys talk about the three recent verbal commitments - TE Sam Vyhlidal, RB/WR Dre Pollard, and WR Mason James. The first two are great examples of how recruiting can come together very quickly, and James is the archetype example of how a typical recruitment goes for a top prospect from start to finish. After a quick break the guys move on to the Huskies' next recruiting weekend, which will be next weekend. Because of commencement happening this weekend and a dead period starting on Monday the 23rd, the weekend of the 20th is the last time in June the Huskies will have a chance to bring prospects in on official visits. Right now, eight players are listed. As Scott details, that number should change before the weekend starts as some currently listed may not come to Montlake and UW could definitely add others to try and finish things off on the right foot. To finish out the podcast, Scott talks about the currently uncommitted players, as well as players committed to other schools that have visited Washington, that could end up Huskies and deliver on his plan to have UW's best recruiting class ever. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The guys from Dawgman.com - Chris Fetters and Scott Eklund - put a bit of a wrap on what turned out to be a highly successful weekend of official visits to Montlake for the Washington Huskies, and we expect even more news to come out in the coming days. To start, Scott gave his thoughts on the two players that gave Washington their verbal commitments over the weekend after their official visits - offensive lineman Dominic Harris and defensive back Gavin Day. Both are from Las Vegas and they weren't the only ones to visit from Sin City, as Harris was joined by Clark High teammate Dre Pollard, an athlete that can play either receiver or defensive back at the next level. And what about the makeup of visitors? Some were from in-state, some were already committed to UW, and some were official visitors already verbally committed to other schools, like Vance Spafford (Georgia), Madden Williams (Texas A&M), and Daniel Odom (Oklahoma). Going into some specific storylines, Chris asked Scott for his take on the recruitment of O'Dea DL David Schwerzel, as well as UW legacy athlete Derrick Johnson II. And then there were a couple of very highly rated prospects that visited Montlake in ATH Brandon Arrington and EDGE Landon Barnes. In Scott's estimation, how did UW do in getting those two to think about the Huskies as a serious player in their recruitment? And of the players already committed to other schools, who does Scott think is the one most likely to flip to UW? Scott also offers up his opinion when Chris asks about an under-the-radar visitor that he feels is being slept on in terms of his overall recruitment. Before finishing up the recruiting podcast, Scott previews the list of prospects expected to officially visit Washington this coming weekend and an update on the number of signees he expects UW to target for the 2026 class. A reminder: Dawgman.com is currently running a steal of a deal - SIXTY percent off a yearly subscription. And if you are a current monthly user, you can upgrade to a yearly subscription using this offer. The recruiting visits are ramping up and a ton of news is expected in the weeks to come, so now is a fantastic time to either join up or upgrade. You can do it HERE. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The guys from Dawgman.com - Scott Eklund and Chris Fetters - got together to offer their thoughts after Day 7 of UW spring football. It was a day for the purists as the Huskies went through a 2.5 hour practice under beautiful Seattle spring skies. There wasn't much to chew on from a fan's perspective as there was a ton of individual work and installation on both the offensive and defensive sides, but the team saved their best work for the last half hour of practice. It was there where they went through a two-minute drill for the both the first and second teams, and the offense was able to score both times. Scott and Chris talk about what they saw during those two-minute drills, including standouts on both sides of the line of scrimmage. For the offense it was freshman receiver Chris Lawson, and for the defense it was defensive backs Rahshawn Clark and Caleb Presley. After a quick break the talk turns to the offense, specifically the offensive line and how they lined up today. There were a few tweaks to the basic lineup Michael Switzer has been using for his number and number two lines, and two true freshmen - John Mills and Champ Taulealea - featured in those tweaks. To finish the podcast out, Scott breaks down the news that 247Sports entered in a couple of crystal balls for Washington earlier Tuesday. The prospect? 2026 QB Derek Zammit from DePaul Catholic HS in Wayne, NJ. Zammit unofficially visited UW recently, and Scott wrote up a trip report that you can see HERE. Scott and Chris also talk about what a commitment from a quarterback at this point in the recruiting cycle can do for a program, especially with Washington set to host a ton of official visitors here in the coming weeks and months. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Thursday was the day of talking for the Washington Huskies, and it also served as a healthy introduction into their new conference, as Jedd Fisch, Jonah Coleman, Carson Bruener, and Kamren Fabiculanan spoke to a number of media outlets during Big Ten Media Days at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. But the highlight of the day was Fisch's 40-minute media session with the members of the print media. It served as the time away from the major media like the Big Ten Network, CBS Sports, Sirius XM radio, and others. It was a chance to get his thoughts on joining a new conference, building a new roster and recruiting at UW moving forward, expectations for fall camp and the 2024 season, and a lot more. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A lot of coaches would love the fact that they get two bye weeks in a season, and Chris Petersen is probably one of them...with a caveat. He gets to choose when the team gets them. So it wasn't a surprise Thursday that the UW Head Coach, in an ideal world, would have wanted to get a bye week just a little earlier in the schedule. Right before the Oregon game, Washington was the only top-25 team to have played in 7 games, so you can see where Petersen feels like the schedule could have put them at a bit of a disadvantage compared to other Pac-12 opponents. And it also affects their future practice schedules because of a second bye week that happens right after their next game, a Friday night affair at Oregon State.  But none of that is at issue this weekend, because Washington is rested off their first bye week and ready to square off against a Utah team playing as well as anyone right now. They just skunked California in Salt Lake City and are brimming with confidence as they come to Seattle with a bit of revenge on their minds. Not only did they lose on a last-second field goal to the Huskies their last trip to the 206, but they also lost twice to UW last year: 21-7 in Salt Lake City and 10-3 in the Pac-12 Championship game. Petersen knows they are going to be in for the fight of their lives this weekend, which is exactly how he believes Utah Head Coach Kyle Whittingham would want it. The Utes have a new offensive coordinator (kind of) in Andy Ludwig, who also was Utah's OC from 2005 through 2008, and they have a defense that is only allowing an average of 56.4 rush yards per game, something Petersen admits he's never seen before this late in a season. Petersen also talked about going up against the two-headed QB monster of Tyler Huntley and Jason Shelley, as well as what he thinks Puka Nacua's older brother Samson, a Utah receiver, could do on Saturday. In UW personnel news, Petersen talks about junior WR Ty Jones and whether or not he'll redshirt, Chico McClatcher, and others. He was also asked about the NCAA decision to allow players to profit off their name, image, and likeness. The media also broached the hard-hitting subjects, like what Halloween costume Petersen might wear for the trick-or-treaters. You might be surprised at his answer! To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The season is basically upon us already, and we barely had time to catch our breath. But for Mike Hopkins and the Washington Men's Basketball team, Thursday's Halloween exhibition game against Western Washington has been months in the making, especially for those players who had to sit with the NCAA Tournament second-round defeat to North Carolina in their gut for the summer. Hopkins spoke to the media Wednesday ahead of the game, where he was able to address a number of player-specific questions, namely about the availability of Jaden McDaniels and Quade Green, as well as others about Isaiah Stewart and Elijah Hardy. Hopkins was also asked about developing this particular roster, the options he will have available to him but also acknowledging the team will go through some growing pains as the talented youngsters gel with the veterans. "It's going to be amazing to get back in front of our fans and the Dawg Pack," Hopkins said. "Hopefully everybody has a lot of trick or treat bags. I was talking to my wife and she was saying they were going to go trick-or-treating, and I was like aren't you going to the game? But anytime you get to play at home, it'll be a great night. I know these guys are really excited to go out there and play against somebody else." To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After a week off, the Huskies got back to work on Monday with a focus on Utah, which has one of the top defenses in the nation and head coach Chris Petersen listed why they are so good during his Monday press conference. "They have one of the best defenses in the country. I don’t know what all the stats are saying and all that stuff, but there is no doubt this is one of the best defenses in the country. They pack the box and they play man coverage. They mix in some zone coverage just to keep you off balance. They do a great job. Bring enough blitz pressures to (force you) to account for all those different type of things. But at the end of the day they can just line up with good players and guys who are trying to make plays downfield. They don’t make many of them downfield because they've got guys who can cover in the secondary and that’s an awesome combination to have.” Faced with that daunting task, the Husky offense has its work cut out for it. Washington offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan says they got some good work in over the bye week and they are just continuing to focus on executing the offense and making the right calls at the right time in order to find some success. Keith Bhonapha talked about the progress of some of his runners, including freshman Cameron Davis who saw his first game reps against Oregon two weeks ago, while wide receivers coach Junior Adams discussed why players like Terrell Bynum and Puka Nacua have seen an increase in reps and targets. Salvon Ahmed, Jordan Chin, Jacob Eason and Trey Adams all talked about the Utah defense and what makes them so tough as well as what they did during the bye week with some of their free time. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Elijah Molden called it 'old school football'. He said it's like going into an alley to see who comes out last. And really, it's about what you'd expect from the Utah Utes and Washington Huskies, who have had a handful of knock-down, drag-out brawls on the football field the last few years. The series record may be 12-1 in UW's favor, but that doesn't do the rough-and-tumble nature of this series justice. And, at least talking to the Washington defensive players and coaches on Tuesday, they understand it. They may be coming off a bye week where they feel as refreshed and as rested as they have since the season began, but that doesn't mean they don't know what they're going to be up against on Saturday. They will be matched against a Utah team playing arguably the best ball in the Pac-12. They just dominated California 35-0, a team that beat Washington in their house in week two. Their defense has been dang near unstoppable this year, allowing only 10 points per game. But the defensive coaches and players wanted to talk about a Utah team with a new offensive coordinator in Andy Ludwig (in his second stint as OC for the Utes), a quarterback in Tyler Huntley playing as efficient as any in the conference, a running back in Zack Moss who is first in the Pac-12 in rushing touchdowns and second in rush yards per game. Senior defensive back Myles Bryant called Utah a 'well-rounded team', essentially one where, as a defense, you're going to need to choose wisely when attacking a certain aspect of their offense. If you try to shut down their run game, Huntley will just take it himself and RPO you to death. If you try and shut Huntley down by not allowing any deep shots, they'll bleed you out by moving the chains, thereby keeping your offense off the field. And they will be physical with you. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

"We got some good work done. I think guys appreciated last week just in terms of how it went, the time off, the practices we did. Get a chance more than anything is get rested up. A lot of times it’s more healed up or more rested up, probably more rested up. It was good and on to a really good, really good Utah team. Those guys are doing a phenomenal job. Kyle always does. Nothing different. I think He’s playing exactly the style of football in general he’s always wanted to play which is great defense and tough run offense. It keeps defenses off balance with some of the shots they take and those types of things. Big challenge. This team is certainly playing as well as anybody around." That was Chris Petersen's opening statement, and there were certainly a lot of questions during Monday's weekly press conference with the Washington head coach, but generally not a lot of detailed answers. In fact, with the bye week in the rearview and Utah next in line, Petersen was about as vague as he's been all year long on almost every topic brought up. Even when he was asked right out of the gate about the departure of redshirt freshman receiver Trey Lowe, he wouldn't provide any details, other than to cryptically suggest that 'the program isn't for everyone'. And there were plenty of queries about the health of certain players that have been dealing with injuries, but they weren't going to get much from Petersen anyway in that regard.  Here's more from Chris Petersen's Monday press conference ahead of their game against No. 9 Utah this weekend. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In talking to the Washington big men this week during their media day, one thing became quite clear, quite quickly: they are excited to show off their hard work. Whether it's the lone senior Sammy Timmins or the true freshmen phenoms Isaiah Stewart and Jaden McDaniels, this is a collection of forwards and centers Washington has never had before, at least not since the days of Christian Welp and Phil Zevenbergen over 30 years ago. The Huskies have eight players listed at 6-foot-9 or taller: Sam Timmins, Hameir Wright, Bryan Penn-Johnson, Nate Roberts, Isaiah Stewart, Jaden McDaniels, Riley Sorn, and J'Raan Brooks. Brooks, the USC transfer, has to sit out this season. That's an insane amount of size, considering UW only had five players last year 6-foot-9 or taller, and all of them are back for this season. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices