Inside The Huskies

Huskies' Leading Tackler Jackson Sirmon Enters Transfer Portal

The inside linebacker from Tennessee has two seasons of eligibility remaining.

Dan Raley

Linebacker Jackson Sirmon, the University of Washington's leading tackler this past season and a two-year starter, has entered the transfer portal, according to multiple sources.

The 6-foot-3, 235-pound junior from Brentwood, Tennessee, is the sixth UW player to leave since the coaching change to Kalen DeBoer, and the third defensive starter to exit for another college destination, joining outside linebacker Cooper McDonald, defensive tackle Taki Taimani, tight end Mark Redman and wide receivers Sawyer Racanelli and Terrell Bynum.

Sirmon, who started 16 games and played in 33, is one of just two players who started all 12 games for the UW defense, with cornerback Kyler Gordon the other. He has two seasons of eligibility remaining. 

There's no indication where Sirmon might end up next, but his father, Peter Sirmon, currently is the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach for the California Bears.

"I'm super tight with him and he's awesome," Sirmon said, when asked why he didn't play for his father initially. "You know, there are some things that don't happen, it's not planned, it's not like I need any separation or anything. He'd be an amazing guy to play for and I'm sure all the guys down there love playing for him."

Sirmon arrived at Washington as a 3-star recruit whose other offers came from Wisconsin, Memphis and Vanderbilt. He played for the Huskies alongside a pair of quarterback cousins, Jacob Sirmon, now at Nothern Colorado, and Camden Sirmon, a walk-on freshman.

He comes off a season in which he piled up a team-best 92 tackles, including 4 tackles for loss, and intercepted a pass while taking over as the leader inside when Edefuan Ulofoshio was lost at midseason with an arm injury.

Sirmon received his first individual accolades this past season, being named All-Pac-12 honorable mention.

In his most memorable play of the Huskies' overall disappointing 4-8 campaign, Sirmon dropped Oregon's Travis Dye in the end zone for a first-quarter safety and a 9-3 lead in an eventual 26-16 loss to the Ducks at Husky Stadium.

As a redshirt freshman, he returned a fumble 54 yards in a 38-7 victory over Boise State in the 2019 Las Vegas Bowl, but was good-naturedly chided for getting pulled down short of the goal line. 

While he wasn't flashy, his UW coaches swore by him as a reliable player who was steady under pressure and didn't make bad mistakes. 

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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