Going into the national championship game, things on the transfer portal front for Washington were pretty calm. They had landed a few nice players and actually made my list of schools that won the early transfer portal window for the Pac-12. Things were looking good.

Then, Alabama head coach Nick Saban decided to retire after having one of the greatest careers in the history of college football. This meant that Alabama needed to find someone to fill his shoes. The person who ended up replacing Saban is none other than Kalen DeBoer, who was the head coach of the Washington Huskies. Washington replaced DeBoer with Arizona head coach Jedd Fisch, Arizona replaced Fisch with San Jose State head coach Brent Brennan (who interviewed for the Stanford head coaching job after David Shaw stepped down), and now San Jose State is looking for a new head coach. Dominoes is fun, eh?

In light of DeBoer’s departure for the Crimson Tide, a bunch of Washington players suddenly hit the transfer portal: 4-star defensive back Jabbar Muhammad, 4-star defensive back Mishael Powell, 4-star offensive lineman Nate Kalepo, 4-star quarterback Austin Mack, 3-star defensive back Asa Turner, and others. On top of that, players who transferred to Washington like quarterback Will Rogers (Mississippi State), linebacker Ethan Barr (Vanderbilt), and tight end Tre Watson (Fresno State) decided to re-enter the portal. Watson ending up at Texas A&M.

READ: QB Will Rogers headlines UW transfer portal exits after Kalen DeBoer leaves

As for who they have landed via the portal, 4-star wide receiver Jeremiah Hunter (Cal transfer) and 3-star defensive lineman B.J. Green II (Arizona State transfer) have stayed put at Washington amid the coaching change. At least so far.

For Jedd Fisch, his first order of business needs to be retaining all those who transferred into Washington before the coaching change and also see who he can get to maybe withdraw from the portal. Sophomore defensive back Dyson McCutcheon for example has withdrawn and will be back with the Huskies. McCutcheon committed to Washington as a 3-star recruit as part of the Huskies’ 2021 class.

In this era, coaching changes bring about a flurry of activity in the transfer portal and Washington is no exception. How Fisch and the Huskies navigate this stretch is definitely something to keep a keen eye on. Especially since they are coming off a run to the national championship game.