The Washington Huskies football team has a healthy amount of expectations going into 2026.

Several publications have listed the Huskies among their early top 25 lists.

A large part of the preseason hype has to due with the return of junior quarterback Demond Williamson Jr.

The third-year signal caller had a solid season in his first full year as a starter in 2025. He completed 69.5% of his passes for 3,065 yards, 25 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He ran the ball 143 times for 611 yards and six touchdowns. His 3,676 total yards led the Big Ten last season.

However, for a brief period in January, it seemed possible that Washington wouldn't have Williams back for 2026.

Williams signed a $4 million deal to return to the Huskies in 2026 when the transfer portal opened Jan. 2. Four days after that, it was reported and later confirmed by Williams on social media that he was intending to enter the transfer portal with a no-contact tag.

Immediately after the post was made public, a swarm of reports and emotions came flooding saying that the university planned on pursuing legal avenues to enforce the contract. There was also a general disdain for the timing of Williams' post, which came when many of his teammates were at a celebration of life for late UW women's soccer player Mia Hamant, who died Nov. 6 due to a rare form of kidney cancer.

Williams' reversed his decision to enter the portal Jan. 8 in another announcement on social media, in which he stated he would be returning to Washington this upcoming season. He also apologized for the timing of his transfer portal announcement coinciding with Hamant's celebration of life, which he state wasn't intentional.

Williams spoke to the media for the first time since these confusing series of events in a news conference, alongside head coach Jedd Fisch and several of his teammates: offensive lineman John Mills, running back Jayden Limar, defensive end Derek Colman-Brusa and defensive end Jacob Lane.

"Being (19-years-old), you get good advice and you get really bad advice at times," Williams said Wednesday. "We're all human, we all make mistakes. At the end of the day, I'm just super blessed to be here with my brothers, my coaches and just at the University of Washington. I'm so happy to be here."

Williams didn't get into specifics about the specifics or rumors on who that advice was from and where he was planning to transfer when he originally made his decision.

When asked if the rumors were true about LSU attempting to poach him, Williams said "no comment."

"My entire focus is just focused on moving forward," Williams said. "Having my eyes set on our goals as a team. Continue to be the leader and the quarterback for this team that I can be. Just taking it day-by-day and that's what I tell (Mills) and the o-line a lot of the time. Just take it day-by-day. Try to figure out how to get better each day."

Williams continued to reiterate in his answers that he was grateful and "blessed" to be back with the Huskies and was focused on helping the team meet their goals next season.

There will be a lot of fans that continue to feel frustrated at the events that happened in January. But as the old adage goes, "winning fixes everything." If Williams helps Washington win, it's reasonable to assume a lot of negative feelings will dissipate.

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