Resilience: the capacity to withstand or to recover quickly from difficulties.
If there is one trait that youth possess that seems to evade the rest of us, it’s the ability to move on. The players at Washington will have to call upon that ability to forgive and move on as they begin winter workouts in preparation for the 2026 season.
On Tuesday, quarterback and team leader Demond Williams makes shocking revelation via social media, his intent to transfer from the University of Washington.
The possibility of his departure was never dismissed as his stats and national reputation began to build throughout the year. There was always the question of whether Washington would be willing or able to match an inevitable offer from a program with unlimited resources.
It is the circumstances in which his announcement was made that was rather shocking. A week earlier, Williams had signed a very lucrative contract with the Huskies, reportedly an NIL around $4 million, not including the revenue share coming from the program. It was aways assumed that Coach Jedd Fisch and Demond were tied together. Fisch had gone to the wall in national promotion for Williams, often promoting him for all awards and getting his name out there for the future Heisman votes. The contract was in place. Now, all UW needed to do was focus on using Williams’ name to help recruit a needed wide receiver and finish out the portal.
… and then.
While Coach Fisch and most of the team was attending the funeral of a very popular young lady, UW soccer player Mia Hamant, Demond stayed back and quietly posted his intent to transfer.
Within minutes, all hell broke loose on Instagram, X, Facebook. Sheer panic on social media was released. People were angry, confused. Many showing final contempt towards college football, itself. They were done with it all. This was betrayal at its highest level.
Oh, by the way, he had a Contract! Sue him! Cut him off at the knees! Where was his agent? Did Fisch know? They had the same agent, how could he not know. It went on and on for two full days.
Two days of drama that would take a full seven page essay to review. Were not going to do that.
In short, after Demond Williams being released by his manager for going behind his back and Williams reportedly signing with an attorney in Miami, Demond reports that he is returning to Washington.
The question is, now what?
Its common for a player to go into the portal and then decide to return. But, this was national headline news. This was being called out on ESPN as the case that could have profound impact on all of college football. This is not a simple case.
What does Jedd Fisch and his offensive staff do now? After all they since had other quarterbacks on campus looking to take Williams’ spot on the roster. Had there been offers to other quarterbacks? Had they accepted those offers behind closed doors. We may never know. What we do know, is that Fisch accepted Demond’s return.
But, what about all those feelings of betrayal?
As a head football coach, myself, I always tried to make it real clear to my teams, “the only people that really matter, the only ones that will make a difference on this field are the young men in this room. It doesn’t matter what those outside this locker room think.”
As a head football coach, there were many times when dealing with young people where we had to deal with young people making mistakes. How does a coach react to young people being, young? How does a coach react to a player that was completely mismanaged by a parent (dad) getting greedy and leading his son down a path of demise? How does a coach lead a locker room when a player made a selfish decision that impacted the entire team?
I don’t know that I ever had all the answers. I do know this, an authentic apology to those in the locker room, to the coaches goes a long way. Remember, they aren’t just players. They are kids. They are friends.
And young people, friends, are extremely resilient. They will bounce back. That’s what kids do. The fans, alumni? Only time will tell.
