Cal Football: Taj Davis, Jackson Sirmon Ready to Return to Roots at Husky Stadium

Neither has played in Seattle since leaving Washington to find new opportunity at Cal.

Washington offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb says the Huskies did not want wide receiver Taj Davis to leave the program last spring, ultimately landing at Cal.

But when you look at what the UW receiving corps has achieved so far this season, it’s easy to understand what Davis was thinking.

“Me coming to Cal was totally based on the opportunity that I saw here,” said Davis, who will return with his new teammates to Husky Stadium for the Pac-12 opener on Saturday night.

Grubb, who talks about Davis in the video above, called him “a great kid,” and said he’ll never forget the 62-yard touchdown catch Davis made late in the fourth quarter last season at Oregon, helping UW rally for a 37-34 victory.

The Huskies lead the nation in passing yards (493.3 yards per game), and Rome Odunze, Jalen McMillan and Ja’Lynn Polk have been the most prolific pass-catching trio in the country.

Each averages more than 100 receiving yards per game and together they have totaled 55 catches for 1,030 yards and seven touchdowns. In three games.

“It’s been amazing,” Davis said. "Those are all my real close friends and I’m always proud of them, just seeing them go out and compete at a high level.”

Davis, a 6-foot-1 redshirt junior from Upland, California, has eight receptions for 81 yards and a touchdown. Offensive coordinator Jake

Spavital said Davis’ performance has exceeded the numbers.

“I think Taj has come along great. He works extremely hard,” Spavital said.

“You see it on tape, the kid’s playing at a high level. I love where he’s at He’s tough.”

Davis and Cal linebacker Jackson Sirmon both are making their first trips back to Seattle since transferring from UW to Cal. Sirmon made the move before the 2022 season, when he led Cal with 104 tackles.

“This is a surreal feeling, being able to go back there and compete against those dudes when I’ve done it my entire career,” Davis said. “It’s definitely something I circled on the calendar and the fact that it’s here now, I’m excited.”

He confirmed that Cal offered him a scholarship out of high school and the fact that Justin Wilcox remains the coach was a influencing factor. “Just knowing that he still had a want for me . . . that was something that was big for me.”

UW coach Kalen DeBoer talks in the video below about Jackson Sirmon: 

Sirmon already has faced his old team, compiling 11 tackles a year ago when the Huskies edged the Bears 28-21 in Berkeley. He made his move to Berkeley in part to reunite with his father, Cal defensive coordinator Peter Sirmon.

Saturday represents Jackson's first return to Husky Stadium. But he’s a bit more low-key in his approach to this game..

“I don’t feel like emotional is the right word. It’ll be neat going back to that stadium — I played a lot of games there,” he said. “It’ll be kind of crazy for about 5 minutes while I’m doing the pre-game warmup. After that, it’s another game.”

Cover photo of Cal receiver Taj Davis celebrating with Trond Grizzell by Kyle Terada, USA Today

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo