SEATTLE — As the transfer portal chaos continues in the wake of Kalen DeBoer's departure from the University of Washington, a potential future face of the program will follow the coach who recruited him down to the University of Alabama.
Austin Mack, who enrolled at UW in the fall but had yet to take the field for the Huskies, announced his intention to transfer to Alabama on Thursday and play under DeBoer. Mack was a four-star recruit according to 247Sports and was ranked as the eighth-best quarterback in the 2024 recruiting class.
In what can hardly be seen as a coincidence, the No. 3 ranked quarterback in the class of 2024 who had enrolled at Alabama in January plans to enter the transfer portal, ESPN's Pete Thamel reported Friday morning citing sources. Julian Sayin was a five-star recruit who had committed to the Tide in November 2022.
Mack is part of a long list of UW players who either are entering the transfer portal or declaring for the 2024 NFL Draft following DeBoer's departure. Mack is the first from UW who has elected to follow his coach, as well as former offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb, to Tuscaloosa.
Per The Seattle Times' Mike Vorel, Washington now has just one scholarship quarterback on the roster: Dermaricus Davis. The 12th-ranked quarterback overall in the class of 2024, Davis hails from Etiwanda High School in Southern California.
There is a chance Davis could leave as well, considering his most recent social media post on his X account, formerly known as Twitter, was simply a broken heart emoji.
While it might feel like it has been all outward movement from the Huskies, new UW head coach Jedd Fisch has proven to be a strong recruiter of transfers. Some of his former players at the University of Arizona have already been linked to the Huskies, so don't expect any kind of slowdown on the roster news in the coming weeks and months.