Inside The Huskies

Jayden Wayne Joins Exodus of UW Coaches, Players to Cal

The edge rusher played in 11 games for the Huskies this past season.

Dan Raley

Jayden Wayne sets himself to pass rush against Eastern Michigan.
Jayden Wayne sets himself to pass rush against Eastern Michigan. / Skylar Lin Visuals

Edge rusher Jayden Wayne -- joining in the steady transfer of football talent from the University of Washington to California in recent seasons -- on Monday night committed to Justin Wilcox's team, becoming the second Husky in this portal window to end up in the Bay Area.

The 6-foot-6, 262-pound Wayne will remain the uninterrupted college teammate of Tristan Dunn, the former UW safety who earlier committed to the Bears, with both of these players coming off their sophomore seasons.

A one-time much-heralded 4-star recruit, Wayne from Tacoma, Washington, was pursued by nearly every major FBS powerhouse program before spending a season each at Miami and the UW.

What he seeks is a much more prominent role at Cal after appearing in 11 of 13 games this past season in a reserve role for the Huskies, but in small increments. He finished with 6 tackles, one each against six different opponents.

Jayden Wayne is shown during UW fall camp practice last season.
Jayden Wayne is shown during UW fall camp practice last season. / Skylar Lin Visuals

While he carries plenty of size for his position, Wayne could use more of a burst coming off the edge to elevate his game..

He joins a Cal program that has a deep-rooted Husky feel to it, headed up by Wilcox, who was the UW defensive coordinator in 2012 and 2013 for Steve Sarkisian. The Cal defensive coordinator is Peter Sirmon, who was the Husky linebackers coach alongside Wilcox for those aforementioned two seasons.

Overseeing the Bears secondary is Terrence Brown, who was the Husky cornerbacks coach for Jimmy Lake's staff in 2020 and 2021, and Tre Watson, who was a standout cornerback for the UW in 2011 to 2013.

Wayne and Dunn represent the next wave of Huskies turned Bears, following wide receiver Taj Daivs, who played for Cal in 2023, and linebackerJackson Sirmon, Peter's son, who finished up with the Bears in 2022 and 2023 and became an All-Pac 12 linebacker after spending four seasons in Montlake.

For the latest UW football and basketball news, go to si.com/college/washington

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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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