Austin Mack broke one piece of news … before teasing another.
After unzipping a gray warm up jacket to reveal a purple Washington jersey on 247Sports’ YouTube channel Wednesday, the newly committed four-star quarterback added: “There’s going to be some news, and it’s nothing but excitement for me. So I’m ready to get there and get to work.”
Sooner rather than later.
Mack — a 6-foot-6, 210-pound prostyle passer from Folsom (Calif.) High School — will reclassify into the 2023 class and join the Huskies this summer, he announced Tuesday.
That’s a critical development for UW, considering the Huskies have just two scholarship quarterbacks on their current roster — sixth-year senior starter Michael Penix Jr. and fifth-year junior Dylan Morris. UW’s quarterback depth was depleted by redshirt sophomore Sam Huard’s transfer to Cal Poly last month and four-star freshman Lincoln Kienholz’s flip to Ohio State before December’s signing day.
Besides, UW has an additional quarterback commit in the 2024 class — three-star Garfield signal caller EJ Caminong.
Mack was previously ranked by 247Sports as a four-star recruit, the No. 7 quarterback in the country, the No. 8 player in California and the No. 53 overall prospect in the 2024 class — but he’ll now graduate from Folsom a year early to kick-start his college career.
Which begs the question: is he ready? And is the accelerated timeline best for both sides?
Mack is just 16 — young for a high school junior — and has started only one season of varsity football. Granted, he excelled last fall, completing 70.4% of his passes while throwing for 3,498 yards with 42 total touchdowns and five interceptions — leading the Bulldogs to a 12-2 record and a section championship.
Instead of adding an extra season of game experience, Mack will spend the 2023 campaign learning from Penix, Morris, UW coach Kalen DeBoer and offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Ryan Grubb — all while absorbing the Husky offense. He’ll benefit from early exposure to UW’s strength and conditioning program as well.
The hope is, after spending a full season in the system, Mack will be ready to compete for the starting job in 2024.
Mack will have to miss the prom to make an early first impression.