A Happy Husky

Published 9:00 pm Monday, August 21, 2006

New Washington running back Michael Houston met with the media today for the first time since he joined the team after transferring from Texas. And Houston could not have seemed happier to be in Seattle, praising, the team, the players, the coaches, the city and pretty much everything else. He said he cried when he found out he was cleared to join the Huskies, and the media agreed afterwards that he seems to be destined to be a go-to quote as he seems very open and personable.

Among the highlights: Houston said he wasn’t able to enroll at Washington in time for the spring, so he spent the summer at Aurora (Col.) Community College. He said it was a difficult process to transfer from Texas, saying it took a long time to get his grades in order and get various loans paid off before he could be released.

Houston said Willingham is his dream coach, and that he formed a relationship with UW tight ends/special teams coach Bob Simmons during his recruiting process out of high school. Simmons was at Notre Dame with Willingham at the time. Houston said he picked Washington over Cal and Colorado State.

Houston said he left Texas because coaches wanted to turn him into a fullback and he wanted to stay at tailback. He left Texas in December, before the Longhorns beat USC for the national title, but he said coaches offered to allow him back on the team to play fullback, which he refused.

Houston took an official visit to Washington the week before the 4th of July and said he fell in love with the campus and the city, calling Seattle “like an island, like paradise.” He also praised Isaiah Stanback’s hosting, one of several newcomers who have said Stanback was a great host.

Houston said he is a big back like LenDale White but said he also has speed and some good moves and isn’t simply a power back.

Houston is in his five-day acclimation period right now. Tyrone Willingham said he won’t rush Houston into anything since he must sit this year out anyway.

I also spoke to freshman middle linebacker Donald Butler, who apparently is contending for a starting job with Tahj Bomar and Trenton Tuiasosopo. Butler said he doesn’t think he’s going to redshirt as he’s been in on two special teams packages and nickle packages while also working out with the base defenses. He was also very personable and thoughtful. He spent three weeks this summer in Europe on his senior trip. He said his top two schools were Washington and USC, and when he told USC that he was considering Washington’s scholarship offer, the Trojans stopped recruiting him. But he said that wasn’t disappointing and said that he knows that Washington is the place for him.

No huge news from Willingham in his daily briefing. No new movement on the JC player front. Roy Lewis won the only gold jersey from Tuesday’s early practice, continuing quite a streak of gold jerseys won for Lewis. Among the current injuries are Michael Book (knee), Shelton Sampson (thigh) and Erik Berglund (foot). Willingham spent much of the session talking about the new rule changes meant to speed up the game, something that Willingham felt the offense struggled with during Saturday’s scrimmage. Willingham is not for the new rules and said it will be interesting to see how they are interpreted by officials from various parts of the country.