Inside The Huskies

Rainey-Sale Is Putting Local, National Connection Back Into Husky Football

On3 ranks the linebacker among the top five who just signed in the Class of 2025.

Dan Raley

Zaydrius Rainey-Sale outfitted in UW gear.
Zaydrius Rainey-Sale outfitted in UW gear. / UW

When the legendary Don James was the University of Washington football coach for nearly two decades, it was almost no surprise that high school football across the state became a much bigger deal.

Area coaches tried to coach like him. Locally produced players wanted to play for him. James provided Rose Bowl and Orange Bowl victories, repeated wins over USC, a national championship at the expense of Michigan. In and around Husky football, everything was on an uptick in terms of excellence.

Somewhere along the line in recent seasons, though, maybe at the beginning of the brief Jimmy Lake coaching era, a disconnect set in. The best local players turned their backs on the Huskies and went off to places such as Ohio State, Texas, Miami and even Oregon.

Almost taking it personally, linebacker Zaydrius Rainey-Sale from Spanaway, Washington, seems out to restore that connection, that bridge to the elite Northwest player from A to, yes, Z, by recently signing with the Huskies and Jedd Fisch's first-year staff and stepping into the spotlight.

Every day it appears, Rainey-Sale is building a portfolio built on projected greatness. On Friday, recruiting website On3 designated him as the nation's fifth-best linebacker signee in the Class of 2025. Ahead of him are players headed to Georgia, Ohio State, Texas and Notre Dame.

A word to the wise: monitor those five names over the next season or two and see how they shake out. Rainey-Sale might be a lot better than fifth.

On Wednesday, Rainey-Sale simply was named the best player in the Greater Tacoma area, but he seemed to relish that attention, as well, again demonstrating his home connection.

"253. For the city," he posted on social media.

In a sport that is fast becoming more disconnected from its roots and its local fan bases, with players looking at college football as if it's an extended Caribbean cruise vacation, the 6-foot-3, 225-pound Rainey-Sale, already walking around with a college football physique, is determined to restore and flaunt the local ties.

Twelve months ago, he initially committed to the UW within hours of Kalen DeBoer's Husky team taking the field against Michigan in the CFP national championship game, as if to connect greatness to greatness.

Within 60 minutes of DeBoer announcing he was leaving for Alabama, Rainey-Sale similarly withdrew his commitment from the Huskies, as if to say put your house in order and we'll try this again.

It didn't take long for Fisch to assemble a large segment of his coaching staff -- seven in all, including both coordinators -- and make the hour trip south to meet with Rainey-Sale and his Bethel High School coaches.

"I don't feel like I'm taking any liberty by saying Zaydrius Rainey-Sale was priority No. 1 on the recruiting front walking in the door," said Matt Doherty, UW director of player personnel who came with Fisch from Arizona. "On the plane, on the way here, he was the topic of discussion."

Their sales pitch was successful, though it didn't seem like they had to get down on their hands and knees and beg him to come to Montlake. He chose the Huskies over Florida State and UCLA, fairly determined to become that Washington guy who takes the University of Washington back to exalted football heights.

The rest of the country, however, is just finding out about Zaydrius Rainey-Sale and there's no telling how good he can be.

Instant starter? Defensive headliner? NFL player?

For sure, Rainey-Sale looks like one of those guys bent on putting geographic loyalty back into the game of college football.

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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