Quarterback Demond Williams Jr. received the marching order every 18-year-old dreams of when he met with Washington coach Jedd Fisch to discuss the optimal offseason training program.
Watch TV, Fisch told his expected starter for the 2025 season.
Better yet, watch football on TV.
And yes, Fisch was as serious as Oregon week.
“Be an elite studier of the game, watch as much football as you can on TV and listen to the commentators,” Fisch said when asked to recall the advice he gave Williams.
“Listen to Tony Romo, listen to Tom Brady do the games. You don’t have to listen to the other guys, but listen to those two guys talk.”
Fisch’s comment came during a recent, wide-ranging conversation on ‘Canzano and Wilner: The Podcast.’ The Huskies’ second-year coach addressed lessons learned from UW’s first season in the Big Ten, the rampant tampering in college football, the complexities of revenue sharing with athletes and the dynamic young quarterback who followed Fisch from Arizona to Washington last winter.
Williams played sparingly for the Huskies throughout the 2024 season — until the final two games. His efficient, confident performances against Oregon and Louisville (in the Sun Bowl) caused expectations for next season to soar.
“Throughout the year, I played him eight-to-10 plays a game,” Fisch explained. “Initially, there were doubters on that philosophy. But we were building our foundation of our program; we weren’t trying to win the national championship.
“Sure, we tried to win every game, but you have to evaluate where your team is. I felt it was really important to get Demond out there so we could get a look at how he was growing as we were laying the groundwork for what I think is going to be a championship run in the future.”
Whether that championship run comes in 2025 depends, to a large extent, on Williams grasping the nuances of the playbook, understanding defensive alignments and learning to lead the offense through successes and challenges.
In that regard, Fisch considers the NFL broadcasts on Fox (Brady) and CBS (Romo) to be invaluable learning opportunities for his quarterbacks.
“I make a big point of emphasis that if you listen to what Romo says, and if you listen to what Tom says, you’re going to learn so much more than you ever thought you could watching a football game,” said Fisch, who has worked for seven NFL teams, including the Patriots (after Brady’s tenure in New England).
“So I have them go back and watch on YouTube the games that those guys commentated.”
The Huskies don’t need Williams to perform at the level of Michael Penix Jr. in 2023 in order to contend for the Big Ten title and a spot in the College Football Playoff.
Something between Penix ’23 and Will Rogers ’24 would work just fine, especially if the defense remains as stout under new coordinator Ryan Walters as it was under Steve Belichick.
One reason for optimism on Montlake: At this point in the transfer cycle, Big Ten rosters are remarkably light on established, elite quarterbacks.
Ohio State will have a first-year starter in Julian Sayin, a blue-chip recruit who has thrown just 12 passes in college.
Oregon is turning to Dante Moore, who was a part-time starter for UCLA two years ago and played sparingly for the Ducks last season.
Michigan is expected to start a true freshman, Bryce Underwood.
USC’s presumptive starter is Jayden Maiava, who was solid last season but hardly elite.
Indiana is replacing Kurtis Rourke with former Cal quarterback Fernando Mendoza.
Of the perceived Big Ten contenders in 2025, only Penn State, with Drew Allar returning, and Illinois, with the underrated Luke Altmyer, possess proven winners.
It doesn’t require a leap of faith to believe Williams could be one of the most impactful quarterbacks in the conference — as long as he watches Romo and Brady and views every facet of the offseason regimen as a chance to prepare for the fall.
“He needs to know that everything he’s going to do nutrition-wise, everything he’s going to do in the community, all eyes are on him,” Fisch told ‘Canzano and Wilner.’
“Every decision he makes away from the building is a decision that affects University of Washington football in a positive way, so continue to do that. We’ll get him out to the Manning (quarterback) camp. We’ll get him out to do some private training stuff and then, obviously, he’s going to lead this football team.”
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