Ex-Husky Dana Hall Flies Up and Back from L.A. in Same Day to Welcome Fisch

The cornerback from the 1991 national championship team wanted to show his support to the new coach.

Dana Hall was a starting cornerback for the University of Washington's 1991 national championship team, an eventual first-round NFL draft pick, known as someone who could cover a lot of ground in a short amount of time.

On Tuesday, Hall, now 54, demonstrated that ability once more. 

He caught an early morning flight out of Los Angeles and arrived in Seattle, covering the 1,200 miles just in time to see Jedd Fisch welcomed as the 31st Husky football coach — and the ninth since his coach, Don James, was in charge in Montlake.

No one else came quite as far to attend the new coach's program unveiling, though 1980s Rose Bowl defensive tackle Lynn Madson got in his car and drove 120 miles up Interstate 5 from Castle Rock, Washington, to join in the coaching passing of the torch, as well.

"I thought it was important to show a united front, to show this coach it was important to us, as alumni, that it's important to us that it's the culture of the program that we really want to build," Hall said. "Coaches come and go. He's just the next one up, but he needs to know the guys, the history of Husky football, and he needs to connect to it."

Hall came up multiple times over the past two years and spoke to the team when DeBoer was the coach, stressing what made his era of players so successful. His Huskies went 12-0 and beat Michigan 34-14 in the Rose Bowl to claim a national championship that was decided by the polls.

"One of the things I mentioned to the team is there's going to be guys who are going to leave, guys who come and go, who don't believe in the culture," Hall said. "But the guys who are here, lets focus on those guys. Lets focus on building it from there, with guys who are here, and reload. We don't have to rebuild."

The much-decorated defensive back, who played for the San Francisco 49ers, Cleveland Browns and Jacksonville Jaguars, was able to speak with Fisch for a few minutes while the coach made the rounds of TV and radio interviews set up for him. 

Hall then headed back to the airport to return home to Los Angeles on a night flight.

"I just wanted to come up and let him know he had 100 percent of my support," Hall said. "That he had 100 percent of the support of the guys who love this program."

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