Tacario Davis almost ended up at UW a season earlier.
Jedd Fisch was announced as Kalen DeBoer’s successor at Washington on Jan. 14, 2024. Davis, a 2023 All-Pac-12 honorable mention, entered the transfer portal less than two weeks later on Jan. 23. Reuniting with Fisch, secondary coach John Richardson and cornerback Ephesians Prysock seemed inevitable.
Until it wasn’t. Davis eventually returned to Arizona, where he went on to earn second-team All-Big-12 honors before entering the transfer portal once again. This time, the 6-foot-4, 200-pound cornerback made it to Montlake.
“I was super close to coming here,” Davis said. “It didn’t pan out, but it’s all about being where my feet are. I’m here now.”
Davis was one of several new faces on defense as UW completed its third spring practice, its first fully padded, at Husky Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Washington lost nine defensive starters and a coordinator from the 2024 campaign, meaning new defensive coordinator Ryan Walters is installing a new scheme and overseeing several position battles for starting spots this spring.
“It’s going good,” Walters said. “Through three days, we obviously don’t have a majority of the package in. But what we do have in they’ve been executing pretty well. Obviously, there’s going to be mistakes in communication and alignment, but that’s why we practice.”
Walters certainly has to replace a substantial amount of production. Defensive linemen Voi Tunuufi, Sebastian Valdez and Jacob Bandes graduated, along with linebackers Carson Bruener and Alphonzo Tuputala and safeties Cameron Broussard and Kamren Fabiculanan. Starting nickel Jordan Shaw, cornerback Thaddeus Dixon, linebacker Khmori House and safety Peyton Waters — both true freshmen contributors in 2024 — transferred.
Nine of UW’s 14 winter transfers were defensive players in response to this attrition. Yet almost all of them committed to the Huskies before Walters had been officially hired as defensive coordinator on Jan. 3. Though he had no input on the players UW recruited before he arrived, Walters praised Washington’s personnel staff for finding players who add size and fit UW’s culture.
“We look like a Big Ten team,” said Walters, who’s spent the past four seasons in the Big Ten coaching Purdue and as the defensive coordinator at Illinois. “The guys that we’ve added, they fit in this conference.”
Walters specifically mentioned being impressed by the team’s improvement on the defensive line. The new defensive coordinator said they’ve combined their physicality with good technique, and noted they’ve been getting off blocks quickly. Walters also praised defensive line coach Jason Kaufusi for making sure the defensive linemen were prepared for spring practices.
The defensive line gave Walters a strong performance on Saturday. Playing their first full-contact practice of the spring, the defensive line blew up several running plays during the 11-on-11 periods.
Western Michigan transfer Anterio Thompson and Arizona transfer Ta’ita’i Uiagalelei each made tackles for a loss against redshirt freshman running back Jordan Washington, while sophomore Elinneus Davis brought down sophomore running back Adam Mohammed in the backfield once. Walters was complimentary of Thompson’s maturity, in particular, noting the senior defensive lineman’s offseason work has translated onto the field.
The defensive line’s continued emergence will be extremely important for the Huskies, who struggled to stop the run against some of the Big Ten’s best teams in 2024. Walters has almost exclusively deployed five-player defensive fronts through the first three spring practices, and will still get to add experienced edge rusher Zach Durfee (toe) and Russell Davis II (triceps) to his defensive front rotation potentially during the fall.
Davis, however, has been one of the team’s standout players this spring. He’s been tough in coverage, with several pass breakups during 11-on-11, seven-on-seven and one-on-one periods despite playing with a different mix of players in the secondary on almost every repetition. Walters and Richardson have offered chances to essentially every defensive back on the roster because Prysock has been a limited participant while recovering from offseason surgery.
The Arizona transfer also notched his first interception of the spring, ripping the ball out of wide receiver Kevin Green Jr.’s hands on an attempted pass by fifth-year quarterback Kai Horton.
Walters named Davis and edge rushers Isaiah Ward and Jacob Lane as some of his early standouts this spring. The defensive coordinator said Davis’ traits have lived up to their “elite” billing, complimenting the Southern Californian’s ability to use his length to disrupt passes and how quickly Davis gets in and out of his breaks despite his height.
“Overall, I’m excited and pleased with what I’ve seen so far with this first day in pads,” Walters said.
Davis — called “Bobo” by family, teammates and coaches — said he chose to return to college for a chance to put together one more year of good film and refine some of his technique before turning professional. Davis added he’s emphasizing turning good plays into great plays by working on his hands. In 30 career games, Davis has 23 pass deflections but only one interception.
Of course, improved ball skills come with the standard requirements to play in Walters’ defense. Being physical. Clean tackling. And communication. All the things Davis were required to do at Arizona with Fisch and Richardson. Davis said it’s almost like nothing changed from two years ago.
“Yeah,” he said. “Feels like home.”
Extra points:
- Along with Davis’ interception, redshirt freshman Rahshawn Clark grabbed two picks — one during one-on-one drills and one while the offense was working on wide-receiver screen blocking. True freshman D’Aryhian Clemons also had an interception during the screen-blocking period.
- Washington didn’t do its traditional “Sandstorm” period on Saturday, so there were no real opportunities to throw touchdowns.
- Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay, Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula and two-time Super Bowl Champion coach Mike Shanahan were all in attendance after speaking at UW’s coaching clinic.
- Former Seahawk linebacker Bobby Wagner, the uncle of linebacker Anthony Ward and edge rusher Isaiah Ward, was also in attendance.