Inside The Huskies

Parham Goes from One Set of Huskies to Another in Transfer Portal

The linebacker will play for UW alum Jim Mora at UConn.

Dan Raley

Bryun Parham played four games for the UW before leaving the team.
Bryun Parham played four games for the UW before leaving the team. / Skylar Lin Visuals

Bryun Parham will move from Huskies to Huskies.

From a team that his new college football coach once played for to another his new coach has turned into a winner in three seasons.

On Sunday, the 5-foot-11, 212-pound linebacker from Long Beach, California, revealed on social media he has signed with the Connecticut Huskies to suit up for Jim Mora, the former University of Washington safety and linebacker, as well as previously a coach for UCLA, the Atlanta Falcons and the Seattle Seahawks.

If there's a connecting thread here, current Husky coach Jedd Fisch served as Mora's UCLA quarterbacks coach in 2017, and as the Bruins interim coach once Mora was dismissed at the end of that season, and it wouldn't be surprising at all if one coach alerted the other that Parham was available.

Parham, who played his first three seasons for San Jose State, forever will be remembered in Montlake for starting one week and then quitting the next to preserve his redshirt status and keep himself eligible to play for another team in 2025.

He had to do something to keep his NFL pursuits intact after finding out he wasn't going to unseat either sixth-year senior Alphonzo Tuputala or fifth-year senior Carson Bruener from the UW's two starting linebacker spots, plus he had to contend with fast-rising freshman Khmori House, who came ready to play for the Huskies.

Consequently, Parham reached his four-game marker for preserving a season of eligibility in 2025 and walked away after starting as a third linebacker against Northwestern, leading a goal-line stand and playing a pivotal role in the UW's 24-5 victory.

“He just felt like the situation for him here [is] he wanted to try to maintain one more year of eligibility and I think maybe have a place to go start,” Fisch said. “But we wish him the best and he’ll have the opportunity to go into the transfer portal when the year ends."

Parham joined the Montlake-based Huskies after piling up 199 tackles for San Jose State, 106 in 2023 alone, while appearing in 32 games and starting 25 times. As a junior, he was named as a All-Mountain West honorable-mention selection.

Bryun Parham came up with a fourth-down PBU against Northwestern to prevent a touchdown.
Bryun Parham came up with a fourth-down PBU against Northwestern to prevent a touchdown. / Skylar Lin Visuals

He left the Bay Area school once his coach, Bob Brennan, took the Arizona job to replace Fisch, who had been hired by the UW.

So it's onto Mora's UConn Huskies, who currently are 8-4 and preparing to meet North Carolina in the Fenway Bowl next Saturday in Boston.

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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