UW’s season finale vs. Oregon will be bittersweet for Husky seniors like Jonah Coleman
Jonah Coleman returned to the field following injury for Saturday’s game with UCLA Nov. 22, 2025 at the Rose Bowl, in Pasadena, Calif. (Dean Rutz / The Seattle Times)
By Andy Yamashita Seattle Times staff reporter
Saturday’s senior day will be particularly sentimental for Jedd Fisch.
A year ago during his first season coaching Washington, Fisch saluted a group of seniors who generally spent less than 12 months as part of his program. Many of them were looking for fresh starts or were Husky veterans who chose to finish their careers on Montlake, despite the coaching changes and program overhaul.
This year, Fisch and the Huskies will say goodbye to a group that includes several players who followed him from Arizona to UW and became pillars of the program and culture he promised to build.
If the 2024 seniors were the foundation of Fisch’s UW program, then the 2025 seniors were the framework. Fisch joked he wasn’t sure who’d have more tears watching this year’s senior day, his wife Amber or himself.
“It will certainly be an emotional time out there when they run out,” Fisch said, “especially the guys we’ve had all four years.”
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Washington will honor around 20 players before its 12:30 p.m. kickoff against No. 6 Oregon on Saturday at Husky Stadium, including players like running back Jonah Coleman and cornerback Ephesians Prysock who’ve played nearly 50 games under this coaching staff at Washington and Arizona.
“You just feel very proud of the kids for the journey they’ve been on,” said UW offensive coordinator Jimmie Dougherty, who previously coached at Arizona with Fisch. “You obviously want to end it on a high note. You want to go out there and play the way we know we’re capable of playing on Saturday and making it a real special day for those guys.”
Along with Coleman and Prysock, who transferred to UW with Fisch before the 2024 season, cornerback Tacario Davis and defensive tackle Ta’ita’i Uiagalelei, who joined Washington from Arizona before the 2025 season, will also likely be honored. Both will exhaust their eligibility after the season.
“That’s one of the really special things about coaching,” Dougherty said, “when you get to see the growth of kids from where they start to where they finish. Not only as players, but as people.
Some longtime Huskies will also be honored. Seventh-year tight end Quentin Moore played his entire FBS career at UW after starting at Independence Community College. So did sixth-year safety Makell Esteen. Sixth-year right guard Geirean Hatchett took a one-year sojourn to Oklahoma, but returned to help anchor UW’s improved offensive line. All three were part of the 2023 team that reached the College Football Playoff championship game.
Perhaps no player has endured as strange a UW career as fifth-year edge rusher Zach Durfee. He was forced to sit out the 2023 season after joining from Division II Sioux Falls because of now-defunct transfer rules and missed half of the 2024 season because of turf toe injuries before enjoying a productive 2025 campaign with the Huskies (8-3, 5-3 Big Ten). Durfee said his trials and tribulations during three seasons in Seattle have taught him a lot about perseverance.
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“This year, it’s been great being able to play and participate,” he said. “I’ve had a different defense every year, so it’s been quite the ride.”
Coleman, however, might be the most notable departure. The running back from Stockton, Calif., has been the most outspoken champion of Fisch’s culture. The one tasked with corralling a patchwork roster in 2024 and teaching them the expectations and intricacies of Fisch’s program.
In 2025, Coleman was tasked with integrating Washington’s prodigious freshmen like wide receivers Dezmen Roebuck and Raiden Vines-Bright. Coleman said he tried to set an example for UW’s first-and-second-year players during the past offseason, imparting lessons he learned as a young player at Arizona.
“You always want to leave a jersey in a place better than you found it,” he said Tuesday. “I always can say that I put my complete, whole self into this program and building this culture and making sure that what I’ve done here won’t be forgotten.”
And Coleman said he was thankful for his time at Washington. He didn’t have to follow Fisch and his coaching staff to Seattle. He had offers from around the country after entering the transfer portal. Yet Coleman said he has no regrets about choosing Fisch and the Huskies.
“I would love to thank all the Husky fans for the support they gave me through this whole process and how welcoming they were,” he said. “Secondly, obviously the staff and my teammates and stuff. Without them, I wouldn’t be in the position I’m in. My family. So there’s a lot to really reflect on. I’ve mentioned it multiple times, as far as the person this university has turned me into. It was definitely probably the best decision of my life coming to the University of Washington.”
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And while Coleman won’t be part of Washington’s future as a player, he said he’s excited for everything the Huskies have built for the future. Because Coleman knows his legacy at UW will continue long after his final home game against the Ducks (10-1, 7-1), through the young players he hopes he guided during his two-year tenure with the Huskies.
“I wouldn’t trade it for the world,” Coleman said. “Just being able to show them if you become close and you get to know one another. Love one another. There’s no limit. There’s nothing you guys can’t accomplish. They know that. The offseason is the biggest part. That’s when you win games, is in the offseason. In January. In February. In March. In April. So just making sure they attack that part hard because I know they’re going to be really good.
“We’ve got a special young group. I was excited I was able to be part of their process.”
Andy Yamashita: ayamashita@seattletimes .com. Andy Yamashita is a sports reporter at The Seattle Times, primarily covering Washington Huskies football.