Holmes Rejoins Huskies After Second Flirtation with Transfer Portal

The UW safety has had an interesting if not confusion spring so far.

Vincent Holmes has returned to the UW football team. / Skylar Lin Visuals

Pete Carroll, Chad Ward, Troy Fautanu and Justin Hylkema were among the visitors to the University of Washington's eighth spring football practice on Thursday, wandering out to the East field one by one to see what was going on.

If not all of them were recognizable to the casual observer, they were, in order, the former Seahawks head coach, the UW's first-team All-America offensive guard in 2000, the Huskies' offensive tackle widely projected to be a first-round NFL draft pick next week at this time and the yet to enroll 6-foot-8, 315-pound freshman offensive tackle with the great nickname, christened "Moose."

Oh yeah, Vincent Holmes was present for the two-and-a-half-hour practice, as well.

In uniform.

From start to finish.

Bent over and looking spent at times.

Yet back with the Huskies, just the same.

Holmes' presence was a big surprise considering the redshirt freshman safety from San Jacinto, California, told people on Tuesday he was entering the transfer portal, didn't show for practice that afternoon and was removed from the UW football roster.

For those keeping score, the 6-foot, 174-pound player has twice entered the portal since the coaching change from Kalen DeBoer to Fisch in January. In between, he spent the first week and a half of Husky spring ball as a wide receiver, something he hadn't played since high school, before switching back to safety last week.

Such is the strange and wildly unpredictable ways of a transient college football world these days.

Holmes wasn't made available to media members, so everyone will have to presume he's rejoined the team for good, though his paperwork didn't officially turn up in the transfer portal until Thursday while he was practicing.

A player not to be simply cast aside, Holmes made inroads and played in four outings as a freshman for DeBoer's UW football team last season, largely on special teams, appearing against Michigan State, USC, Oregon State and in the Pac-12 championship game against Oregon.

Holmes is a player worth keeping, developing and becoming a well-utilized defensive stopper.

On Thursday, Carroll attended his second consecutive UW practice, this time walking onto the field to engage with Fisch, his son and Fisch's offensive coordinator Brennan Carroll and even Husky sophomore safety Tristan Dunn at one point.

Previously on Tuesday, the well-known football coach preferred to be low key, watching practice while standing among the fans.

Ward drove over from the Tri-Cities area with three young boys in tow to show them Husky practice up close and lamented how they made a beeline for Husky Stadium after just a few minutes of watching to toss a football around, leaving him alone to see the next generation of UW players and catch up with old friends and acquaintances.

Fautanu mixed with his former teammates and alums watching practice exactly one week from the NFL Draft unfolding in Detroit, with the All-Pac-12 offensive tackle pegged by the analysts to go in the upper half of the opening round, possibly to the hometown Seattle Seahawks with the 16th overall pick.

The Moose watched his second consecutive UW practice, never standing far from his soon to be offensive-line teammates, ready to go once he graduates from high school in Santa Clara, California.

Getting back to Holmes, he wore a yellow vest over his purple jersey to signify limited practice participation on his part, but he still took some snaps at safety in concentrated 7-on-7 drills. However, he was bent over and down on one knee at one point, no doubt in need of bringing his conditioning back up to speed.

Before the Huskies closed with wind sprints, Holmes stood on the far sideline in the sunshine while nearly all of the practice field was covered in shade, helmet sitting on his head half crocked, chatting up injured linebacker Deven Bryant.

The question left unanswered is Holmes back for good this time?

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