EJ Caminong did not grow up a college football fan. He didn’t spend fall Saturdays inside Husky Stadium, inevitably enchanted by the hometown team. He didn’t sleep on a purple and gold bed spread, dreaming of sounding the siren in Seattle.
“Honestly, I never really watched college football,” Caminong told The Times Wednesday. “I guess I would say I was a Husky fan. I was a little bit of a Ducks fan. Honestly, it kind of varied. I really didn’t know, because I wasn’t into it much.”
Garfield High School’s junior quarterback silently committed to UW on Oct. 1 — but not because of proximity, loyalty, or hometown ties.
He committed because of the coaches.
“They made me feel very welcomed. It really felt like a family,” Caminong said after announcing his commitment Wednesday, on his 17th birthday. “I could tell they really wanted me to be in their program since day one. After they offered me I came back and did a workout in the summer and they wanted me to commit after only a month of being offered by them, before I even started my junior season. Just from that I thought, ‘OK, that’s serious.’ Because they’re not just going to take a kid, especially in the offense they’re in, that they don’t think will be great and they don’t truly want.
“So that’s a big part of it … as well as the system, of course. You get to throw the ball all the time, which is something I look forward to.”
Understandably so. Through eight games, the 6-2 Huskies rank first in the nation in pass offense (379.3 yards per game) and completions of 10 yards or more (125), sixth in pass attempts per game (44), seventh in pass touchdowns (22) and 19th in pass efficiency rating (158.09). In his debut season at UW, redshirt junior Indiana transfer Michael Penix Jr. has set school records for single-game passing yards (516) and completions (36, twice), establishing himself as one of college football’s premier passers.
That success was foretold by the coaching staff.
But seeing is believing.
“I think it was pretty important to see (the offense produce),” said Caminong, who attended home wins over Michigan State and Portland State. “Because I already knew personally, the way the coaches responded to me, they were good people. I was able to build good relationships with them. But to see what they told me about their offense and what it’s going to do, it’s legit.
“That’s something I wanted to see, because they were good at Fresno State. They were really good. But I wanted to see it out of the Mountain West, and that’s what they did. They beat a Big Ten opponent. It’s real.”
Penix, too, is real and statistically spectacular — enough to warrant inclusion in the 2023 NFL draft. And should the 6-foot-3, 213-pound lefty embrace the exit, Washington will be left with three scholarship signal callers (excluding potential transfers in and out) next season — soon-to-be junior Dylan Morris, sophomore Sam Huard and true freshman Lincoln Kienholz.
Caminong won’t arrive until the winter of 2024.
At which point, he expects to compete.
“Personally, I think I’m capable of doing everything,” the 6-2, 195-pound passer said. “I like to throw first, 100%. I can stand in the pocket and make a throw down the field or I can get out and create. I look at myself as a playmaker, whether that’s with my arm or with my feet. I feel like I can do a lot of things.”
But last season, Caminong’s confidence was an occasional detriment as well. 247Sports national recruiting editor Brandon Huffman told The Times Wednesday that “he had all the physical tools, all the physical traits. What he really needed to work on and improve was his decision making — his willingness to go through progressions and reads, to stop trying to use his arm and force it into windows that didn’t exist. I went to two of his games as a sophomore and he threw backbreaking interceptions early in the game just off bad decisions.
“Now you’re seeing in his junior year his willingness to go through his progressions and reads. He made some throws at the Lumen Field game (a 48-7 win over Seattle Prep) that were the kind of throws you see in that stadium on a Sunday — back shoulder throws in the back of the end zone. He just looked so much sharper.”
Likewise, Caminong acknowledges that “I had the big arm. I had the velocity and the size. It was mainly about the mental part of the game. I’ve really taken strides in that way and I put a lot of emphasis on that in the offseason and it’s coming to fruition and coming to light.”
And while Washington had already offered in May, Pac-12 competitors Washington State, Oregon State and Colorado all followed. But Caminong’s decision was cemented during an unofficial visit on Oct. 1, a day after UW’s 40-32 road loss to UCLA.
“I told them beforehand that I was interested in committing. I just wanted to take the visit to make sure it was right for me,” said Caminong. “I went there; I got all the questions answered about the program and the school. I got to see how it looks after a game, specifically after a loss. After that I told them, and I just wanted to keep it silent until my birthday.”
Now, the secret is out — and Caminong’s second job starts. The Garfield quarterback is UW’s third verbal commit in the 2024 class, joining three-star Henderson, Nev. athlete Landon Bell and Yuma, Ariz., edge Jaxson Jones. But the Huskies have offered 10 other in-state prospects in the 2024 cycle — six of whom are regarded as four-star recruits.
Like Caminong, some likely never dreamed of playing at UW.
But coaches, quarterbacks and wins can be convincing.
“Honestly, I’m going to do my best to get everybody here — especially the guys I know will really make a difference,” Caminong said. “And it does help that I’m local. Even out of state, just now I started talking to some kids that had been on a visit and some of the commits. It’s really dope to see.
“I think that’s one of my jobs, why I committed right now, to get these guys to go to UW. That’s what I’m going to do.”