Dawgman Radio: A Washington Huskies athletics podcast

It's been a busy day for Men's Hoops on Montlake with the announcement that Washington and Mike Hopkins are set to part ways after the conclusion of the 2023-24 season, so Kim Grinolds and Chris Fetters of Dawgman.com got together to share some immediate thoughts on the news.

Was it a surprise? No. Was it still a bit of a shock? Maybe the timing of it was a little strange with the Pac-12 Tournament coming up next week, but the reality was this news that had already happened and it was simply a matter of making it known to the world.

So now what happens? What happens to Hop's staff? Kim and Chris discuss what they think will happen to Will Conroy, Jerry Hobbie, Quincy Pondexter, and Ben Lee, and what the odds are they stay with a new staff.

They also talk about the possibility of who stays from the roster, especially if UW's new head coach decides to keep any of the current assistants - especially Conroy and/or Lee.

What is a player like Koren Johnson going to do? Franck Kepnang? Braxton Meah? Wesley Yates? Nate Calmese? Christian King?

After a quick break the guys start talking about potential replacements, starting with the insider favorite, current Utah State Head Coach Danny Sprinkle. Talk of Sprinkle taking over at UW has been publicly known for a couple of weeks now; is it just the initial chat of a coaching search that will wind its way through a number of candidates? Or is it the talk of those who know Sprinkle is not only the leading candidate, but also the overwhelming favorite to take the job?

And if it isn't Sprinkle, who is at the top of Dawgman's wish list? We have a couple in mind. Here's a hint; his first name starts with a T and his last name ends with an R. 

And to wrap things up, Kim and Chris talk about next week's Pac-12 Tournament. Can UW pull the shocker of all shockers and win the whole thing? And could the Pac-12 teams that are invited to the NCAA Tournament surpass expectations?

The guys from Dawgman.com - Kim Grinolds, Chris Fetters, and Scott Eklund - caught up after a really busy NFL Scouting Combine this past weekend where 11 Washington Huskies worked out in front of every pro team at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

Two UW invitees - Jack Westover and Zion Tupuola-Fetui - were healing up from injuries sustained during the 2023 season and did not test or work out. But for the other 11 that did - Rome Odunze, Troy Fautanu, Michael Penix Jr, Bralen Trice, Ja'Lynn Polk, Roger Rosengarten, Jalen McMillan, Dillon Johnson, Dominique Hampton, Edefuan Ulofoshio, and Devin Culp - they ran the gamut from outstanding to head-scratching. But all the Huskies showed themselves to be worthy invitees.

Using the NFL.com draft grades as a basis for running down the order - Kim, Chris, and Scott give their thoughts on each player, how they did in their testing and on-field drills, and also how they may have impacted their pro recruitment off the field.

After going through all 13 players with analysis on each in terms of how they did at the combine, Scott finished up the podcast with a recruiting update on what the new UW coaching staff has been up to on the trail, how they're going to mix recruiting into spring ball and beyond, and also his thoughts on Washington's newest commitments - OL Michael Watkins and TE Charlie Crowell. Watkins and Crowell had both signed letters of intent to play at Arizona before getting out of their letters when Jedd Fisch left Tucson for Seattle and the University of Washington.

Dawgman's Scott Eklund and 247 National Recruiting Editor Brandon Huffman go through Washington's coaching staff's recruiting chops, the hiring of DeShaun Foster by UCLA and they hit on several of Washington's top targets from the 2025 recruiting class, including Demetri Manning, Zaydrius Rainey-Saley, Noah Flores, Ryken Moon, Jonathan Epperson, Chris Lawson, Noah Mikhail, Baron Naone, Chinedu Onyeagoro and Josiah Sharma.

The guys from Dawgman.com - Kim Grinolds, Chris Fetters, and Scott Eklund - have been away from their microphones for a minute, hoping this craziness from the portal and the coaching carousel would die down to a small roar, but that never really happened.

To start the nearly hour-long podcast, the guys talk about Jedd Fisch and putting together his new staff at Washington, delving specifically into his last two hires on the defensive side of the ball with DC Steve Belichick and Safeties Coach Vinnie Sunseri.

That conversation moved into the chat of the weekend, which revolved around Fisch and reports he had interviewed with the UCLA brass ahead of their head coaching hire and also their takes on the news that the Seattle Seahawks were bringing Ryan Grubb and Scott Huff back from their short stay in Tuscaloosa to the Emerald City.

After a quick break they revisit the UCLA head coaching search and their hire - former Bruins running back DeShaun Foster. Will Foster's hire have ripple effects for UW through the portal?

Then the guys talk about the portal some more, how many scholarships Washington has to fill, and which positions might be targeted by the new UW staff in mid-April when the portal opens back up again.

Scott offers up a quick recruiting recap, including some news coming out of their recent Junior Day.

Washington head coach Jedd Fisch met with the media on Wednesday to go through the past five weeks since he arrived and what has been on the agenda since he and the rest of the staff arrived.

He went through the process of re-recruiting the Husky roster, talked about the hiring of a couple of new coaches as well as their philsophy on what we set Washington apart on the recruiting trail moving forward.

Lastly, Fisch discussed spring football. When it starts and when it ends and what practices fans can attend in the month of April.

It was a busy Saturday for the Washington Huskies on the recruiting trail. Not only did they host some top 2025 recruits on their board, they also received commitments from two big linemen (one for the 2024 class and one for 2025) that are integral in their attempts to rebuild their roster. Dawgman.com's Scott Eklund sat down and went through everything that happened.

This weekend, most expected the Washington Huskies to host a good-sized group of underclassmen for their Junior Day. However, due to the coaching change several prospects have rescheduled their visits. Dawgman.com's Scott Eklund walked through the prospects who were actually going to make it to campus today and also updated things on which ones are rescheduling to visit at a later date.

He also discussed what to look forward to over the next five days as we approach National Signing Day on Wednesday, February 7th. Washington is in line for three commitments from players who have visited over the past couple of weeks.

Lastly, he went through what the coaches were up to the past couple of weeks as they visited with prospects and extended some offers. 

Guard Anthony Holland, guard Paul Mulcahy, and F/C Wilhelm Breidenbach Anthony Holland, Paul Mulcahy, and Wilhelm Breidenbach spoke to Dawgman.com ahead of a sold out Apple Cup game Saturday evening at Alaska Airlines Arena.

247's Greg Biggins stops by to chat with the Dawgman's Scott Eklund to discuss recruiting. With the 2024 recruiting cycle winding down on February 7th, National Signing Day, and Washington still looking to fill out their roster with high school and portal players, there is a lot to talk about.

Biggins starts things off by going in depth on his impressions of new Husky head coach Jedd Fisch and his staff's abilities as recruiters and why Washington fans need to give them some time to work their magic with talent acquisition.

They discuss two 2024 signees and early enrollees -- Dermaricus Davis and Khmori House -- who entered the portal, but have since recommitted to the Huskies as well as three others -- OL Paki Finau, DL Ratumana Bulabalavu and DB Peyton Waters -- who are still mulling over their options and wideout Justice Williams who hasn't made any public statements since the new coaching staff was named.

Finally, after a break, Biggins gives his thoughts on Washington's newest commitment, 2025 Chapparal (Temecula, Ca.) QB Dash Beierly, and what he brings to the table after watching him throw the past couple of years.

The guys from Dawgman -- Kim Grinolds and Scott Eklund -- were on hand to meet with Jedd Fisch as he was introduced as Washington's 31st head football coach on Tuesday.

There were a lot of former players and alumni on hand as well as some former coaches.

The guys talked about what they heard, gave their thoughts on what was emphasized during the media session and talked about some of the staff that Fisch will likely bring with him, including some familiar names to Husky fans.