With the sort of program that Jedd Fisch seems to be assembling on Montlake, doing a bit of recruiting all over the country seems to be pretty important. So as Fisch and the Huskies once again get set to head down to the Lone Star State for a bowl game, it’s yet another decent opportunity to get eyes from folks in that part of the world to pay attention to the University of Washington.
Which is a good thing, to be completely honest. It’s good for Fisch and the Huskies to recruit from talent found across the country (and on the academic side it’s also a good thing for the university to be able to get some students from Texas to move to Washington given how massive that state actually is).
During a press conference, Fisch was asked about the way trips down to Texas could help with recruiting in that state. The head coach of the Huskies had a few thoughts on the matter.
Washington Huskies make 2024 Sun Bowl, take third consecutive trip to Texas in as many years
Of course, the Huskies have been down to Texas for a few different occasions recently (last season’s national championship game and the 2022 Alamo Bowl against the Texas Longhorns). And it’s worth noting that Fisch himself is pretty familiar with the Lone Star State.
“We played, the Arizona staff played, in the Alamo Bowl last year, so I feel like we’re always in Texas right now for bowl games,” Fisch noted.
Plus, there’s apparently an additional connection to Texas for Fisch.
“You know, my wife's from Texas, it's Friday Night Lights - she grew up with it. It's why she asks me questions about the Red Zone harder than you guys do, it's why she asks me why we didn't convert on that third down,” Washington’s head coach joked.
As for how all of that connects to Washington’s recruiting effort? Well, it’s a pretty sizable deal for the Huskies.
“For us to be able to go get football players out of there, for them to know us, see us, see our brand, see our program, see our staff down there is a huge advantage,” Fisch explained. “We’ll continue to use that as an advantage.”
That sounds encouraging. As a Texan, I love seeing the Huskies here in my home state. I also love knowing that Fisch sees this as a worthwhile trip when it comes to his program’s recruiting strategy. But, there is something else worth noting here: not all trips to Texas are going to be connected.
This is a big state, folks.
“We’re excited, this is a new area. You’re talking about playing in San Antonio, Houston, El Paso, so three different areas of the state,” Fisch explained.
And that matters because Houston and San Antonio are a decent ways apart, geographically, but El Paso is pretty dang far away. And the Huskies are getting a fair bit of exposure all across the state, which is cool to see.