The messiness of the January portal window reached its peak when Washington QB Demond Williams Jr. announced his decision to enter the portal, despite having signed a $4 million revenue-sharing contract with the program. In the days after the move, the Huskies threatened action, as reports linked Williams to Lane Kiffin’s LSU. While that didn’t pan out and Jedd Fisch got his starter back, the Huskies’ head coach isn’t completely over the whole fiasco.

In a conversation with On3’s Pete Nakos, Fisch addressed the issue of tampering in college football. While he criticized it, Fisch also said he is not in favor of taking the Dabo Swinney route of publicly calling out programs. It’s not because he doesn’t believe that programs are meddling in the affairs of their rivals behind the scenes.

“I’ve seen guys go public, and I have seen no changes in the programs that they’ve gone public about. So what’s the value? Until we start getting to a place where there’s going to be discipline and accountability, and we really understand what we’re allowed to do and not allowed to do, then I’m not going public on. I’m not worried about it, really. Right now, it seems like you can kind of do what you want.”

After backing out of his contract, Williams reentered the transfer portal and was on the verge of joining the LSU Tigers, a move that sent shockwaves through the program. Multiple reports at the time linked LSU and Lane Kiffin to the Washington QB. The SEC program was reportedly willing to pay Williams $6 million to come to Baton Rouge. On the other side of things, the Huskies were in shock. It also didn’t help Williams that he announced his decision when many of his fellow players were attending the funeral services of a deceased Washington player. The program threatened legal action, but before things could escalate to that point, Williams made a U-turn.

“After thoughtful reflection with my family, I am excited to announce that I will continue my football journey with the University of Washington,” Williams wrote. “I am deeply grateful to my coaches, teammates, and everyone in the program for fostering an environment where I can thrive both as an athlete and as an individual.

“I am fully committed and focused on contributing to what we are building,” Williams continued. “Additionally, I apologize that the timing of these events coincided with the celebration of life for Mia Hamant, a beloved member of our University community. I never intended to call attention away from such an important moment.”

Despite his betrayal, his coach understood how much of an asset he was and welcomed him back.

“Demond and I have engaged in very honest and heartfelt conversations about his present and future,” Fisch said. “We both agree that the University of Washington is the best place for him to continue his academic, athletic, and social development. I appreciate Demond’s statement,” Fisch added. “I support him, and we will work together to begin the process of repairing relationships and regaining the trust of the Husky community.”

Demond Williams is a game-changer for Washington

Williams is a huge asset to college football. After high school, he was ranked 19th among quarterbacks in the class of 2024. This past season, the star quarterback threw for 3,065 yards and 25 touchdowns with eight interceptions, and that was not all. He added 611 yards and six touchdowns on the ground. Across 13 games, he had a 69.5% completion rate.

“Williams showed epic potential as a first-year starter in 2025, and he has two tasks for going even bigger in 2026,” ESPN’s Connelly wrote.

“First, he’ll have to win the dressing room back after briefly entering the transfer portal following ‘really bad advice.’ Second, he’ll have to figure out how to raise his game against great defenses. His overall stat line was great (UW averaged 45.1 points per game in nine wins), but against the four best defenses he faced last fall — Ohio State, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Oregon — the Huskies’ offense averaged a dire 9.3 points per game and went 0-4. Time to learn some new tricks.”

Beyond the drama with Lane Kiffin, Fisch is optimistic ahead of the coming season, beaming with the belief that there is enough time for recovery for both the Huskies fans and players.