Husky Roster Review: McCallister Puts UW's Best Foot Forward

The young punter is back for a second season of starting.

Dan Raley | Jun 14, 2023

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Washington Huskies

By numbers alone, Jack McCallister wasn't supposed to be the University of Washington's starting punter last season.

Idaho State transfer Kevin Ryan arrived with gaudy credentials, foremost a 45.6-yard average that ranked him fifth nationally at the FCS level, and the assumption was the Big Sky newcomer would take over.

The 6-foot, 213-pound McCallister from Edmonds, Washington, was a redshirt freshman with zero punts on his college ledger, after watching Race Porter finish up his career. This was compared to Ryan, who had started for four seasons and put his foot into an even 200 punts and was a place-kicker, too.

When the 2022 UW season concluded, the final Husky tally for this special-teams responsibility went as follows: McCallister 24 punts, Ryan 1.

MsCallister, a non-scholarship player, started all 13 games while Ryan was sent onto the field for one low-key boot at the end of a UW-Colorado game long turned into a blowout.

Going down the roster from No. 0 to 99, McCallister, who wears No. 38 all to himself, is next up in a series of profiles about each of the Huskies' scholarship players and assorted walk-ons, summing up their spring football performances and surmising what might come next for them.

As a redshirt freshman, Jack McCallister won the punting job outright as a successor to Race Porter and averaged a reasonable 40.8 yards.

With good form, Jack McCallister launched five kicks of 50 yards or more, topped by a 58-yarder at Arizona State in the desert sun.

Jack McCallister was none too taxed as the first-year Husky punter in 2022, called upon to kick the ball just 23 times over the season.

Jack McCallister's other game-day duty for the Huskies is serving as the holder on place-kicks, working here with Addison Shrock.

Long snapper Jaden Green works with punter Jack McCallister on the east-end practice field during spring ball.

Jack McCallister misfired on just two kicks, both coming against Oregon State, shanking one and having one partially blocked.

Jack McCallister and his special-teams crew often fit in where they can at Husky practice to get in a few snaps or kicks.

Punter Jack McCallister confers with special-teams coach Paul Creighton, who's a quality coach who came with Kalen DeBoer from Fresno State.

Jack McCallister keeps his eye on the ball and punts one, while tight-ends coach Nick Sheridan and tight ends Josh Cuevas (85) and Quentin Moore (88) look on.

McCallister wasn't overtaxed by any means as a Washington punter. The Husky offense was so good at prolonging drives, he averaged just 1.8 per kicks game. He punted just once in each of six different games: at Arizona State, he hit a season-best 58-yarder; against Portland State, a 51-yarder; at UCLA, a 50-yarder; against Arizona, a 50-yarder; at Washington State, a 43-yarder; and at Oregon, a 37-yarder.

The only time McCallister struggled was against Oregon State in extremely windy conditions, when he misfired on his first pair of punts, shanking one for 18 yards and getting another blocked for minus-8 yards. Yet he finished up strong against the Beavers with second-half punts of 49 and 43 yards.

This past spring, McCallister remained the No. 1 guy throughout the 15 practices, with the position challenge now coming from JC transfer Adam Saul, who, at 6-foot-6 and 192 pounds, brings a most unusual physique to the job.

Both punters serve as place-kick holders, too, giving them an added duty, which probably is a good thing. The high-powered Husky offense might try to go a few games this fall with zero punts.

JACK MCCALLISTER FILE

Service: As a redshirt freshman, McCallister won the job outright, after backing up Porter for a season, and held it for all 13 games.

Stats: He handled every punt for the Huskies in 2022 except one, launching 23 for a 40.8 average, with five traveling 50 yards or more.

Role: The competition is different this time, with Saul taking on the challenger role, but McCallister should reclaim the No. 1 punter job, plus that additional holder duty.

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Published Jun 14, 2023

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.