Husky Roster Review: Bandes Provides Antics, Seeks Elusive Starting Role

The veteran defensive tackle is a sixth-year senior seeking greater responsibility.

Jacob Bandes always has something to offer during UW practice. / Skylar Lin Visuals

One of the more unforgettable images of University of Washington football in recent seasons came in 2022 when a new coaching staff was in place, everyone was getting acquainted in a hurry and the Huskies began doing stretching exercises one day at practice.

Leaving coach Kalen DeBoer more than a little surprised, Jacob Bandes let out a scream and chest-bumped the head guy a couple of times.

Welcome to sometimes whacky Montlake, where all of the seriousness of maintaining a winning UW program can be interspersed with offbeat emotion.

"If you know Bandes, he's a joyful guy," edge rusher Zach Durfee pointed out.

Bandes also is a sixth-year senior defensive tackle who's come to the end of a Husky football career that, depending how you look at it, has been productive but still hasn't quite met expectations.

The 6-foot-3, 302-pound product of Pittsburg, California, who picked the UW over Clemson, has appeared in a team-best 46 UW games, yet he's started just three of them.

"Everyone's path is different," Bandes said in 2023. "What I need to work on is more maturity and more responsibility."

Jacob Bandes is a sixth-year senior defensive tackle for the Huskies. / Skylar Lin Visuals

This is one in a series of articles -- going from 0 to 99 on the Husky roster -- examining what each scholarship player and leading walk-on did this past spring and what to expect from them going forward.

When spring football practice began, Bandes and fellow senior Voi Tunuufi took the field as the No. 1 defensive tackles. By the time it ended five weeks later, Tunuufi was working as an edge rusher and Bandes was a second-teamer in his interior spot.

While a free spriit in pads and a helmet, Bandes understands that as one of the team's older guys he needs to provide a leadership role, and he's made an effort to make that happen. For each stretching session in spring ball, he strode to the front of the group, called out a cadence and led the Huskies in calisthenics.

During April and May's workout sessions. he both dished it out and took plenty of ribbing during the 15 practices.

Watching an extra-large teammate get upfield, Bandes loudly remarked, "Fat boy can move!"

As a UW coach teased him about his running style, he good-naturedly responded, "Shut up, shut up!"

With spring ball winding down, Bandes had a personal highlight when a Demond Williams pass was deflected high in the air and it came down in Bandes' arms. Reaching the sideline, the veteran went straight to a big screen set up to rerun the scrimmage plays for everyone to see and he watched approvingly.

Had new Husky coach Jedd Fisch been anywhere in the vicinity, a Bandes chest bump or two might have been in order.

Jacob Bandes works on his hand strikes on a practice bag. / Skylar Lin Visuals

JACOB BANDES FILE

What he's done: Appearing in those team-high 46 games, which is six more than his nearest teammates in linebackers Alphonzo Tuputala and Drew Fowler, Bandes has 47 career tackles, which includes a lone sack against Colorado in 2022. He's been s defensive fixture, albeit as a reserve player.

Starter or not: Bandes has one game-opening assignment in each of the past three seasons, and certainly he's been Big Ten tested. In 2021, he opened at Michigan, a 31-10 loss; followed by a start at Arizona State the following season, in a 45-38 defeat; and last season at Michigan State, a 41-7 victory. He's still awaiting his first Husky Stadium start. He's dropped a dozen pounds in a year's time to try and be quicker. At this point, though, he's still a second-team presence, probably having maxed out his depth-chart advancement.

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