By Pam Mushen. Damon Huard addressed the Club on October 29, 2020. He is the director of community relations and fundraising for the University of Washington football program.
Damon Huard, the Director of Community Relations and Fundraising for the University of Washington Football program was the speaker. He was a quarterback for the Husky Football Team and the NFL. He gave a full rundown of the roster for the current team: who are the student players to watch, how were the coaches handling this shortened season and what fans could expect. The first game will be November 7th against Cal and, as of this point, the quarterback has not been designated and four young men are vying for the position. Given that the season was originally cancelled in July, it is a very exciting time for the program which will have six conference games and one crossover.
The reason the season was partially reinstated was due to daily testing. The players and coaches are tested on a daily basis and a positive test results in two weeks of quarantine. During training camp, there were no positive tests. Damon is excited about the Husky Head Coach Jimmy Lake who he considers the best position coach and best recruiter the Huskies have ever had and a defensive mastermind. He was enthusiastic about the team even with the return of only two starters. He analyzed the four quarterback choices, the biggest offensive line in the conference, a running back group that is nicknamed “the stable”, the defensive All-American candidates and the greatest freshmen recruiting class in Husky history. According to Damon, it is going to be a fascinating year and the teams that will be successful are the ones that can figure out how to navigate this Covid season.
During questions, he confirmed that there will be no one in the stands and he noted that one of his proudest moment was when he escorted Don James on a tour of the new stadium. There were several financial questions and he explained that this pandemic has had a huge economic impact on the Husky sports program. It has had to let go of staff and all the remaining staff have taken salary reductions. However, there have been no cutbacks on services for the student athletes. Academic services, training, nutrition and other programs to benefit the students come first.