Dawgman Radio: A Washington Huskies athletics podcast

The guys from Dawgman.com - Chris Fetters and Scott Eklund at home and Kim Grinolds from down in New Orleans - break down what Kim saw during Day Two at the Sugar Bowl.

Since we didn't get a chance to talk to Kim before he met up with Washington's arrival Tuesday night, we talked a bit about that as we as Texas's arrival this afternoon. Kim also set the scene in terms of some of the rumors he's been hearing from other media on hand, as well as the thoughts of both head coaches and players that were made available to the press. It's become clear the Texas players that played in last year's Alamo Bowl have long memories.

After a quick break the guys talked about the media schedule for the rest of the week and Scott gave a quick recruiting update on the two portal players committed to Washington - Arizona State EDGE B.J. Green and Fresno State tight end Tre Watson - that haven't signed scholarship agreements yet.

And then Kim and Chris talk a little hoops - the men start their final Pac-12 schedule ever at Colorado this coming Friday and then play at Utah Sunday afternoon - before wrapping up the podcast.

UW Head Coach Kalen DeBoer and Junior Linebacker Carson Bruener speak to the media right after the football team arrives in the Big Easy as they continue to prepare for their National Championship semifinal game versus Texas next Monday night in the Sugar Bowl.

The Washington Huskies are en route to New Orleans and Dawgman.com's Kim Grinolds is already in the Big Easy and he will be there all week. He joined Scott Eklund and set the scene and what fans can expect over the next six days.

Eklund and Grinolds also talked about Washington's most-recent commitment, Fresno State tight end Tre Watson, and how the fits into the system and why he was such an important pickup for the Husky coaching staff.

They also walked through the remaining spots available and

Lastly, the men's basketball team picked up a huge commitment from a local product, Zoom Diallo, the top-rated point guard and 19th-ranked player overall in the 2024 recruiting class. Will he stick if Mike Hopkins and his staff are let go following the season? That question and others are answered in the last portion of today's podcast.

With a break for the holidays coming, and then a trip to New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl on New Year's Day, the media had one last chance to talk to Washington's assistant coaches in Seattle. They spoke with OC Ryan Grubb, WR Coach JaMarcus Shephard, OL Coach Scott Huff, EDGE Coach Eric Schmidt, and co-DC/Safeties Coach Chuck Morrell.

Washington Quarterback Michael Penix Jr., receiver Rome Odunze, receiver Jalen McMillan, receiver Ja'Lynn Polk, tight end Devin Culp, tight end Jack Westover, center Parker Brailsford, right tackle Roger Rosengarten, and defensive back Mishael Powell talk to the media ahead of their trip to the Sugar Bowl and a college football playoff semifinal game versus Texas.

Washington head coach Kalen DeBoer started the completion of his third recruiting class. There's still some holdouts that they are waiting on, but currently, the Huskies have 15 signees from high school and four portal signees.

The guys from Dawgman.com -- Scott Eklund and Kim Grinolds -- were on hand for DeBoer's Signing Day press conference and they had a chance to sit down and go through, position by position, and look at each of the prospects that signed with the Huskies and what they had in common.

They discussed how DeBoer related how the coaching staff looked for different characteristics with each position group and how they went about evaluating the prospects that they targeted and why each prospect was a good fit for the program.

Then they moved on to the saga currently underway with EDGE Dominic Kirks who has not signed yet. Ohio State, his home state school, came in with a late offer and now the Huskies are in the fight for their recruiting lives over the talented and versatile prospect from the Buckeye State.

They also talked about the possible addition of Calabasas (Ca.) ATH Aaron Butler and where things are trending with him. His process has been a bit Helter Skelter as he has committed to and decommitted from two schools (USC and Colorado) and he's now down to Arizona, Washington and Texas according to 247's Greg Biggins who posted an update earlier this afternoon.

Then they looked at the acquisitions of QB Will Rogers, DL Sebastian Valdez, OT Drew Azzopardi and LB Ethan Barr and how each will impact their different position groups and gave a quick roundup of what to expect moving forward.

Washington Head Coach Kalen DeBoer spoke to the media on Wednesday, the first day of the mid-year signing period for the 2024 recruiting class. The Huskies signed 15 high school prospects and four college players from the transfer portal - and DeBoer offered up his insight and analysis on all of them.

Washington running back Dillon Johnson, receiver Rome Odunze, receiver Jalen McMillan, tight end Quentin Moore, offensive lineman Troy Fautanu, offensive lineman Roger Rosengarten, and EDGE Bralen Trice spoke to the media about winning the Pac-12 Championship, the upcoming Sugar Bowl against Texas, and future decisions.

The guys from Dawgman.com - Kim Grinolds, Chris Fetters, and Scott Eklund - break down your questions as the mid-year signing period is less than two weeks away, the transfer portal has opened up, and coaches are in line for contract extensions in this special edition of Ask Dawgman, podcast-style. 

We answered the first five questions, then took a little break to pay some bills, and then finished the pod with the second batch of five questions. The submitted questions are listed below, in order. 

From: stinkycabbage

When will the coaching staff’s extensions be announced? Hopefully before Christmas or I’ll be getting really nervous. Pay the man!

From: dawgvader91

How many Husky fans do you think will make it to the Sugar Bowl ?

From: Trouttramp

How many impact players from this year’s team will be back next year?

From: WgritW

Will there be a plan to play Zach Durfee in the playoff game?

From: kevdawg8668

2016 was our last team to make the CFP. IMHO that team may have had more talent (especially) on Defense, but feel this team is set better for a playoff run in '23. Do you guys expect to see this level of parity across the CFB landscape w/ NIL that would make it hard for blue bloods like BAMA, OSU, Georgia to ever field teams like we saw in the earlier Playoff era similar to the '16 w/ that Bama squad?

After a quick break, we answer the following five question to finish off this mailbag.

From: betazk41

How are the backup/young OL developing, specifically the OTs, and what is the plan for next year with and without Rosengarten?

From: laragon6031

How do you see traditional recruiting, the portal, and NIL, changing the way UW puts its roster together?

From: EddieAdamsfromTorrance

Which young player or players do you see taking a big step next year and potentially earning a key role?

From: thepenixmightier

Assuming you guys love the Huskies so much that you made a career of it, how much has your inner kid enjoyed this season or do you regret being so ingrained in the day to day that you feel like you've missed on the moments?

From: CaliDawg45

Out of the portal QBs, who's your pick?

The guys from Dawgman.com - Chris Fetters and Scott Eklund - were at Washington this morning to talk to UW Head Coach Kalen DeBoer after the official announcement of the Huskies' College Football Playoff destination. They are going to be playing the Texas Longhorns on January 1 at 5:45 pm PT in New Orleans.

The guys talked about their immediate reactions to the news, as well as DeBoer's take on playing the Longhorns in the post-season for two years in a row, as well as having to play in the Sugar Bowl compared to the opportunity they didn't get in the Rose Bowl, the site hosting the other semifinal between Michigan and Alabama.

They tried not to get too caught up in the politics behind moving Alabama into the fourth spot ahead of an unbeaten conference champion in Florida State, but DeBoer was definitely asked about it and the guys talk about his reaction here.

After a quick break, the guys delve into some of the other topics DeBoer discussed, including the post-season awards chase for both Rome Odunze with the Biletnikoff and Michael Penix Jr. with the Heisman Trophy.

They also talked about the schedule moving forward for the Huskies as the players wind down the fall quarter with finals and the Christmas holiday. DeBoer said he was happy with how the schedule worked out with last year's Alamo Bowl, so expect something similar this time around.

The guys wrapped up the pod with some final thoughts and also a take on this question: did the College Football Playoff committee do Washington a favor by not pairing them up with Alabama?