C.J. Wallace takes the field at Husky Stadium for UW football spring practice on Thursday in Seattle. (Kevin Clark / The Seattle Times)
C.J. Wallace takes the field at Husky Stadium for UW football spring practice on Thursday in Seattle. (Kevin Clark / The Seattle Times)
Skip Ad
By
Percy Allen
Seattle Times staff reporter
Among the many position battles at Washington spring football practice, perhaps the tightest competition is at kicker and punter.
No matter what happens over the next four weeks, special teams coach Chris Petrilli anticipates the final decision won’t be made until fall training camp.
“Competition is the core theme of our building,” said Petrilli, who begins his second season with the Huskies. “It is through the season. It’s through preseason (and) through everything. The best players play.”
At some point, Petrilli and ultimately coach Jedd Fisch must figure out who’s going to replace departing three-year starter Grady Gross: junior Tyler Robles, freshman C.J. Wallace or sophomore Hunter McKee.
Meanwhile, incumbent and junior Luke Dunne is battling fifth-year senior San Diego State transfer Hunter Green for punting duties.
So, what’s the criteria to winning the kicking job?
“Make all the kicks,” Petrilli said, smiling. “Yeah, you track it. You look at (operation) time. You look at how they’re making it. If they have misses, what kind of it? Was it a technical issue, or was it a wind or whatever? It’s legit just like golf. The guy who scores the best gets a job.”
Seemingly, Robles is the favorite considering he’s coming off a breakout season at Texas State, where he made 21 of his 23 field-goal attempts, including a career-long 50-yarder in 2025.
“It’s just important to focus on yourself,” Robles said. “I’ve been competing my whole college career. It’s nothing new. We got a great specialist room. We got C.J., young guy who’s got a lot of talent. We got Hunter McKee, who came from Eastern Washington.
“We’ve got good guys. We push ourselves, and it’s just fantastic being in a room like that. We all just elevate each other and try to get the best out of each other.”
Depending on how the competition shakes out, the Huskies are open to splitting the field goal/PAT and kickoff duties.
“I would love for it to be two separate guys, just so it gives them something to focus on and keeps legs fresh,” Petrilli said. “But again, it just goes back to if one guy does it the best and he does both, then heck yeah, let’s roll with that guy.”
The same can be said about choosing between Dunne and Green.
Advertising
Skip Ad
Last season, Dunne struggled in his first season with the Huskies and averaged 40.1 yards on 34 punts while Green, a 2025 second-team All-Mountain West selection, averaged 47 yards on 63 attempts last season.
Green, whose father, Phil, was a walk-on kicker and defensive back at Washington in the early 1990s, has lofty goals for next season.
“Ultimately, I want to win the Ray Guy (Award),” he said, noting the honor given to college football’s most outstanding punter. “That’s a big shout, but I believe I have the potential and if I keep working hard and alongside the guys and with (long snapper) Ryan (Kean) and just get a good operation in the punt unit, then I feel like it will set myself up.
“That’s a personal goal and I don’t want to just be focused on myself, but if I’m pinning teams back, if I’m smoking the ball and hitting bombs, then I’m putting the other team in bad position, which puts our team in even better position. … I just want to go out there, and people when they’re playing Washington, know that they’re not going to get anything on punt return.”
In addition to punter, Green and Dunne are vying to be field goal and PAT holder while Kean, a senior, is the lone long snapper on the roster. Ideally, the Huskies would like to bring in another longer snapper to ease his workload in practice.
“It’s sort of like treating him like (he’s on) a pitch count,” Petrilli said. “He’s got a certain number of live ops. He is a phenomenal long snapper. He’s such a leading force in that room. So, it is kind of that fine line. … But yeah, we definitely have to watch his reps right now, right? He’s the only one out there.”
A UW football spokesperson said Washington was conscious, talking and had movement in all extremities before leaving the field.
A few hours after the incident, Washington posted, “I’m all good,” on his social media account.
He’s played in 12 games with the Huskies and ran for 233 yards last season.
— During a team drill pitting the offensive and defensive starters, junior cornerback Emmanuel Karnley provided the play of the day when he peeled off coverage on the right side of the field and intercepted a deep pass across the middle from quarterback Demond Williams Jr. that was intended for receiver Rashid Williams on a post route.
— Minutes later, Williams hooked up with receiver Dezmen Roebuck, who made a highlight catch near the sideline for 30-yard gain despite tight coverage from linebacker Donovan Robinson Jr.
— The biggest star at Husky Stadium was the clear skies and sunny weather, which peaked at 62 degrees at the start of practice.
— The Huskies held a two-day coaching clinic for Seattle-area high-school coaches, featuring keynote speakers Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald, San Francisco offensive line coach Chris Foerster, Miami Dolphins linebacker coach Joe Barry and retired coach Gus Malzahn.
Percy Allen: pallen@seattletimes.com. Percy Allen is a sports reporter for The Seattle Times, where he writes about the University of Washington Huskies men’s and women’s basketball teams and the Seattle Storm.
C.J. Wallace takes the field at Husky Stadium for UW football spring practice on Thursday in Seattle. (Kevin Clark / The Seattle Times)
Skip Ad
By
Percy Allen
Seattle Times staff reporter
Among the many position battles at Washington spring football practice, perhaps the tightest competition is at kicker and punter.
No matter what happens over the next four weeks, special teams coach Chris Petrilli anticipates the final decision won’t be made until fall training camp.
“Competition is the core theme of our building,” said Petrilli, who begins his second season with the Huskies. “It is through the season. It’s through preseason (and) through everything. The best players play.”
At some point, Petrilli and ultimately coach Jedd Fisch must figure out who’s going to replace departing three-year starter Grady Gross: junior Tyler Robles, freshman C.J. Wallace or sophomore Hunter McKee.
Meanwhile, incumbent and junior Luke Dunne is battling fifth-year senior San Diego State transfer Hunter Green for punting duties.
So, what’s the criteria to winning the kicking job?
“Make all the kicks,” Petrilli said, smiling. “Yeah, you track it. You look at (operation) time. You look at how they’re making it. If they have misses, what kind of it? Was it a technical issue, or was it a wind or whatever? It’s legit just like golf. The guy who scores the best gets a job.”
Seemingly, Robles is the favorite considering he’s coming off a breakout season at Texas State, where he made 21 of his 23 field-goal attempts, including a career-long 50-yarder in 2025.
“It’s just important to focus on yourself,” Robles said. “I’ve been competing my whole college career. It’s nothing new. We got a great specialist room. We got C.J., young guy who’s got a lot of talent. We got Hunter McKee, who came from Eastern Washington.
“We’ve got good guys. We push ourselves, and it’s just fantastic being in a room like that. We all just elevate each other and try to get the best out of each other.”
Depending on how the competition shakes out, the Huskies are open to splitting the field goal/PAT and kickoff duties.
“I would love for it to be two separate guys, just so it gives them something to focus on and keeps legs fresh,” Petrilli said. “But again, it just goes back to if one guy does it the best and he does both, then heck yeah, let’s roll with that guy.”
The same can be said about choosing between Dunne and Green.
Advertising
Skip Ad
Last season, Dunne struggled in his first season with the Huskies and averaged 40.1 yards on 34 punts while Green, a 2025 second-team All-Mountain West selection, averaged 47 yards on 63 attempts last season.
Green, whose father, Phil, was a walk-on kicker and defensive back at Washington in the early 1990s, has lofty goals for next season.
“Ultimately, I want to win the Ray Guy (Award),” he said, noting the honor given to college football’s most outstanding punter. “That’s a big shout, but I believe I have the potential and if I keep working hard and alongside the guys and with (long snapper) Ryan (Kean) and just get a good operation in the punt unit, then I feel like it will set myself up.
“That’s a personal goal and I don’t want to just be focused on myself, but if I’m pinning teams back, if I’m smoking the ball and hitting bombs, then I’m putting the other team in bad position, which puts our team in even better position. … I just want to go out there, and people when they’re playing Washington, know that they’re not going to get anything on punt return.”
In addition to punter, Green and Dunne are vying to be field goal and PAT holder while Kean, a senior, is the lone long snapper on the roster. Ideally, the Huskies would like to bring in another longer snapper to ease his workload in practice.
“It’s sort of like treating him like (he’s on) a pitch count,” Petrilli said. “He’s got a certain number of live ops. He is a phenomenal long snapper. He’s such a leading force in that room. So, it is kind of that fine line. … But yeah, we definitely have to watch his reps right now, right? He’s the only one out there.”
Washington carted off
Sophomore running back Jordan Washington went down near the end of Saturday’s practice. After lying motionless for several minutes on the Husky Stadium sideline, he was loaded into an ambulance by emergency medical technicians and taken to nearby UW Medical Center.A UW football spokesperson said Washington was conscious, talking and had movement in all extremities before leaving the field.
A few hours after the incident, Washington posted, “I’m all good,” on his social media account.
He’s played in 12 games with the Huskies and ran for 233 yards last season.
Spring drill observations
— Not surprisingly, the defensive players were energized and overly vocal on the first day of padded practices. Linebacker Jacob Manu impressed with his physicality and made several eye-popping plays early in the workout. Linebacker Zaydrius Rainey-Sale was equally impressive and impossible to block during one-on-one pass-rushing drills against running backs.— During a team drill pitting the offensive and defensive starters, junior cornerback Emmanuel Karnley provided the play of the day when he peeled off coverage on the right side of the field and intercepted a deep pass across the middle from quarterback Demond Williams Jr. that was intended for receiver Rashid Williams on a post route.
— Minutes later, Williams hooked up with receiver Dezmen Roebuck, who made a highlight catch near the sideline for 30-yard gain despite tight coverage from linebacker Donovan Robinson Jr.
— The biggest star at Husky Stadium was the clear skies and sunny weather, which peaked at 62 degrees at the start of practice.
— The Huskies held a two-day coaching clinic for Seattle-area high-school coaches, featuring keynote speakers Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald, San Francisco offensive line coach Chris Foerster, Miami Dolphins linebacker coach Joe Barry and retired coach Gus Malzahn.
Percy Allen: pallen@seattletimes.com. Percy Allen is a sports reporter for The Seattle Times, where he writes about the University of Washington Huskies men’s and women’s basketball teams and the Seattle Storm.
