Tunuufi's UW Position Change Takes Him Back to Where He Was in HS
Voi Tunuufi was following University of Washington football teammates to the next drill on Thursday morning when he realized those guys were defensive linemen and he quickly pivoted and made his way to the edge rushers.
The 6-foot-1, 260-pound junior from South Jordan, Utah, has a new position these days. He's the only player on the 119-player fall roster who's made somewhat of a radical move since coming out of spring ball.
Tunuufi plays on the edge now, something he did at East High School in the Salt Lake City area, and he was good at it. Yet in further indictment of the strange moves concocted by the Jimmy Lake staff, someone decided this Utah kid should become a defensive tackle once at the UW.
Kalen DeBoer's coaches, however, see something totally different in Tunuufi's game. Amazingly, even while out of position, he piled up 8 sacks in his first two seasons while starting just two games, both as a freshman in 2021, as an interior lineman.
"I just love it out there," Tunuufi said of the move. "I thank the coaching staff every day for letting me to be able to just do what I wanted and be able to to play outside. It's been a blessing. It's been so much fun. That's what I played in high school so I feel way more comfortable out there."
It was Husky defensive-line coach Inoke Breckterfield who actually suggested that Tunuufi move outside and take on the new role, in effect giving up this player to another position coach.
"It's always what's best for the team," the coach said.
Voi Tunuufi wore a towel on his hip for much of Thursday's practice.
Dan Raley
Yet Breckterfield had great insight into this move because he went from a 5-foot-9, 244-pound nose guard to edge rusher at Oregon State — and finished up in 1999 as the Pac-12 Morris Cup winner, signifying him as the top lineman in the conference, before playing in the Canadian Football League.
"I can relate to him a lot," Tunuufi said. "Coach Breck is a crazy, awesome coach, someone I can bounce off of, especially where he was and with all those accolades he got when he was in college. He's definitely a role model in my game."
They both were blessed with speed to get things done on the football field, with Tunuufi improvisational on top of that.
For instance on Thursday, Tunuufi wore an extra long towel tucked into his waist and hanging down to his ankles. The reason? He was getting way too much sweat condensation on his helmet visor and the extra towel length enabled him to wipe it off with ease.
However, Tunuufi got all tangled up in the towel on a play and his new coach, presumably Eric Schmidt, made him discard it for now.
It was just a minor adjustment for this relocated player, who should fit in well in his new assignment with the Huskies, backing up starters Bralen Trice and Zion Tupuola-Fetui for now, and maybe find his way to the backfield on a more frequent basis.
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