SEATTLE – One of Washington’s deeper position areas got a boost Wednesday when former O’Dea High School star wide receiver Chancellor Young officially joined the team as a scholarship player.
Young, who played his freshman season at Duke last year, attended classes and practiced for the first time with the Huskies Wednesday. He must go through the mandatory five-day acclimation period before he is cleared for full practice, and he will redshirt this season because of NCAA transfer rules. Young will have three years of eligibility remaining starting next season. He said he never seriously considered any school other than Washington.
“I can still help out the team by being on the practice squad, working everybody hard and just waiting my turn until I can get the opportunity to play,” Young said.
Washington coach Tyrone Willingham, who recruited Young while he was coach at Notre Dame, said he’s excited about Young’s potential to help the team in the future.
“We’re excited about adding him to our program,” Willingham said. “We know his time won’t be this year but we are excited about what the future brings for him in our program.”
As a senior at O’Dea, Young was named an All-American by PrepStar magazine and played in the U.S. Army All-America Bowl. For the Fighting Irish, he caught 25 passes for 500 yards and five touchdowns and was named the Metro League’s Defensive Player of the Year after making 84 tackles.
At Duke last year, Young caught two passes for 15 yards but decided to leave after the season. He said he wanted to get back to the West Coast and be closer to his family.
“It just wasn’t a fit for me,” Young said. “(Duke) is a fantastic program; coach (Ted) Roof is great. He’s been a wonderful person to me both as a person and as a football player. But it just wasn’t what I was looking for. I needed to be back over in Washington.”
Young’s father, Charle Young, was a three-year letterman at USC, a first-round draft pick of the Philadelphia Eagles and the NFC Rookie of the Year in 1973. He also played for the Rams, 49ers and Seahawks in his 13-year pro career.
Young’s older brother, Charles, played football at Stanford for Willingham.
“My brother played for him and told me coach Willingham is a very good man, works his players hard but just expects a lot out of them and takes care of his people,” Young said.
While waiting to get his release from Duke, which came at the beginning of this month, Young said he’s been working out and trying to stay in shape. He said it hasn’t been easy to sit and watch everyone else start their seasons.
“It’s been hard and it’s still going to be hard,” Young said. “I can’t get out there Saturdays and show Seattle and the rest of the country what I can do. But it was a choice I made by going to Duke then deciding to leave. It’s something I seriously considered whether I was willing to do that with my transfer, but I’ve comes to grips with it. I’m just basically biding my time and when my time comes, I’ve got to make the best of it.”
Injury update: Willingham reported no change in the status of tackle Joe Toledo (ankle) and cornerback Matt Fountaine (sternum, shoulder). He described both as day-to-day and questionable for this weekend’s game.
No player left behind: Willingham said he thinks one of the strengths of his program is the fact that players on scout teams are coached as much as those in the playing rotation.
“If we’re doing this program right, our freshmen don’t have the opportunity that someone preparing for the game has,” Willingham said. “At the same time, they are well-coached in our system. The way we run things, his coach will be able to see what he does in our system. That’s different than other systems when you send them to another field to get their work in and no one ever sees them. In our system our coaches get a chance to put a handprint on him every day.”
Bye week schedule: Willingham said the Huskies will practice Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday next week although Washington doesn’t have a game to prepare for. He said the bye week is a good opportunity for young players to get more work in.
“You give them a chance to play the game because right now that’s what they’re missing,” Willingham said. “You give those guys sufficient time to play the game so hopefully they get better during that week.”
As tough as it gets: When Washington plays No. 20 UCLA Saturday, it will mark the third opponent in the top 25 the Huskies have played this season (No. 12 Cal and No. 13 Notre Dame are the others). The only other team that has played three currently ranked teams is Michigan (Notre Dame, No. 17 Wisconsin and No. 11 Michigan State on Saturday). Coming up on the Huskies’ schedule are No. 1 USC, No. 14 Arizona State and Oregon, which based on its votes in the Associated Press poll would be No. 31.
“The Pac-10 is pretty good football and I think it’s getting better and better,” Willingham said. “Years ago when I was in the league before, you maybe had one or two teams – and at one time I was part of one of those teams – that people thought you don’t have to worry about them. Now it’s not that way in the conference. A lot of teams that were once in the bottom of the conference are now making their way to the top.”
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