Here's the latest on the embattled quarterback.
5:10 p.m. PT: Williams has announced he's returning to the school on social media, and he also apologized for the timing of his announcement, which coincided with the celebration of life for Mia Hamant.
4:55 p.m. PT: The Demond Williams Jr. situation has taken another wild turn on Thursday night, with Pete Thamel of ESPN reporting that Williams is now likely to return to the University of Washington.
He made the comments on ESPN's coverage of the College Football Playoff.
An eventful week for Williams
Last week, the star quarterback signed a new contact to return to Washington for the 2026 campaign, but on Tuesday night, he announced he was going to enter the transfer portal.
Since then, all hell has broken loose, with Washington saying they were going to work to enforce the language in his contract and not let him go into the portal. Then, Williams was fired by his agent on Thursday morning.
Thamel says that after retaining a lawyer, Williams has weighed his options and is leaning toward returning.
The big question now
At this point, we have to wonder how much Williams actually wants to be at Washington. Does he really want to play for the Huskies, or is he just taking the easiest path toward avoiding litigation and loss of money?
At the same time, does Washington want him back? He's harmed the athletic department, the program and his teammates. While winning always fixes everything, Williams can't do any winning until next September. How difficult will it be for him to smooth over relationships until then?
The key figure in all this
It has to be head coach Jedd Fisch, who's known Williams for a long time. The quarterback committed to play for Fisch at Arizona and then followed him to Washington. If Fisch still believes in Williams, that will go a long way toward smoothing things over. Williams need an ally, and Fisch could still be it.
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Can Washington tell Williams no?
As I understand, Washington can change the terms of NIL agreements if it wants to, so even though there's a contract, it appears to be more binding on the players side than the school's side. The school can (likely) get out of a deal much easier if it no longer wants Williams on the roster.
The program (likely) cannot stop him from being a student at the university, though Williams won't stay there if he can't play.
What's next?
A formal announcement from Williams, one way or the other, and then a lot of fence mending on all sides.
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