Husky Roster Review: UW Football Is Family Affair for Girouard

The walk-on wide receiver's roots to the program go way back.

Jackson Girouard pulls in a spring pass. / Skylar Lin Visuals

Everyone is under a microscope at University of Washington football practice, but no one quite like Jackson Girouard.

Not only does this walk-on wide receiver from Redwood City, California, have to impress his coaches and teammates, he knows this older man wearing a ball cap and standing on the sideline most days, trying to remain unnoticed but given every courtesy to attend Husky workouts, is probably sneaking a look at him whenever he can.

As much as anyone, Girouard knows this person to be an excellent judge of talent. He knows this guy was a fairly decent player himself as a 1960s linebacker for Washington State.

This is Dick Baird, who was the UW recruiting coordinator for 14 seasons for the legendary Don James and his coaching predecessor Jim Lambright. He was the talent-acquisition architect for 11 bowl qualifiers, including the 1991 national championship team.

This man with the analytical gaze is Girouard's grandfather.

"He's really a good kid," Baird said approvingly of his daughter's son.

Jackson Girouard heads upfield during UW spring ball. / 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.

Girouard, a 6-foot, 193-pound junior, took a year off from football after playing an abbreviated senior season for Sacred Heart Prep in northern California during the COVID pandemic and before joining Kalen DeBoer's program as a non-scholarship player.

More than anyone, Girouard acts like he belongs with Husky football, even as he runs passing routes with 3- and 4-star scholarship players and even a consensus All-America selection such as the departed Rome Odunze.

Maybe it's the long-rooted family connection to the UW program, which ran deep with the street-wise yet personable Baird, who was able to relate and make a connection with players from Los Angeles to Seattle for so many years.

Happy birthday, @JacksonG_2 ‼️🥳 pic.twitter.com/iUfYeqpeMP

— Washington Football (@UW_Football) July 1, 2024

A mischief-maker himself growing up -- ask him if he remembers who helped chain the doors together at Seattle's Roosevelt High School one day and pulled the fire alarm -- Baird could identify with players who were a little on the wild side, could think like them, talk like them and talk them into coming to Seattle.

Now comes Girouard who is much more innocent in a football setting than grandpa, but seems just as happy to be part of the Husky program that employed Baird was for so long. The best thing about his situation is he'll always get an honest answer regarding his talent level if he wants it.

Jackson Girouard pulls in a UW spring ball pass. / Skylar Lin Visuals

JACKSON GIROUARD FILE

What he's done: Girouard has appeared in one game in each of the past two seasons, playing against Portland State in 2022 and against California last year. However, he had his first year through the program interrupted by a torn knee ACL that put him on crutches through the Alamo Bowl against Texas that season.

Starter or not: As a walk-on, he'll find it difficult to move up, especially with so many new scholarship receivers with big reputations arriving for Jedd Fisch's staff. Girouard likely will have to be happy getting into the occasional lopsided home game and see if he can move up the ranks some as he gets older. If nothing else, he gets to see his grandfather in a football setting on a regular basis.

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