Huard: Why the Bill Belichick visit is important for UW Huskies

Apr 8, 2024, 11:29 AM

Head coach Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots during a 2023 game.(Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

(Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Seattle Sports

The UW Huskies football team received a special visitor this weekend as it wrapped up its first week of spring practices.

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Six-time Super Bowl champion coach Bill Belichick – the father of UW defensive coordinator Steve Belichick – donned his usual sweatpants and sweatshirt Saturday at Dempsey Indoor Center. This time a large purple “W” was branded on his sweatshirt.

Social media lit up with posts over the weekend of Bill Belichick clad in Huskies gear. That brings more visibility to the UW program, and former NFL quarterback and UW alum Brock Huard spoke about just how important that can be Monday during the Blue 88 segment of Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk.

“From just an exposure standpoint, that kind of hits,” Huard said. “Is it the reason why the top (2026) running back (Ansu Sanoe), who happens to be from Oregon, committed to Washington? Probably not. But does it hurt? Absolutely not.”

If you ever wanted to see Bill Belichick in UW gear: pic.twitter.com/xO0FhEXody

— Christian Caple (@ChristianCaple) April 6, 2024

Huard added the likes of Seattle Seahawks general manager John Schneider and former Seahawks coach Pete Carroll making appearances around the program only helps add to the exposure it is looking to gain under first-year coach Jedd Fisch.

“All of those things are good looks,” Huard said. “In a perception business, this is a place you want to be. This is what Pete did in the 2000s at (USC). It was Will Ferrell, it was Snoop (Dogg), it was celebrity, it was a big deal. And if Jedd Fisch can use celebrity coaches and celebrity people, and all of a sudden those celebrity coaches maybe want to bring around a few more hotshots in football – all that momentum, all that perception, that’s a good deal for the program.”

So, how did Bill Belichick’s visit to Montlake go?

“I heard it went great. I heard that … people loved it,” said Huard, who is also a FOX college football analyst. “When he’s not answering questions in a press conference about his personnel or a game plan and you get that guy talking ball, you get that guy storytelling, you get that guy’s history of football over 50 years, it’s awesome.”

Listen to the full conversation in the podcast at this link or in the audio player near the top of this story. Tune in to Brock and Salk weekdays from 6-10 a.m.