UW Football Spring Position Preview: Special Teams
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - NOVEMBER 15: Grady Gross #95 of the Washington Huskies kicks an extra point against the Purdue Boilermakers at Husky Stadium on November 15, 2025 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images) | Getty Images UW’s Special Teams in Jedd Fisch’s first season as Head Coach were worse than bad. Fisch hired Chris Petrilli as a full time special teams coach in hopes of righting the ship.
Things improved for the Dawgs in 2025, but it would have been hard to get worse. UW got more touchbacks on kickoffs, fewer long punt returns, and no yips for Grady Gross in ‘25. On the less bright side, Luke Dunne shanked way more punts than a P4 starter and the return game was fairly limited.
There will be lots of turnover for the ‘26 unit, so let’s take a look at some of the changes. Who’s Gone Grady Gross had quite the career at UW. After hitting the game-winning field goal against Oregon in ‘23, Kalen DeBoer moved him from walk-on to scholarship.
He was much less automatic in his junior year, where he had a bizarre four-game stretch with seven missed FGs. He bounced back in his senior season, albeit with fewer attempts as the offense managed to finish more drives. For his career, Gross made a very solid 75% of his FGs, including 14/18 from 40-49 yards, and never missed an extra point.
His stability will be missed. Kickoff-specialist Ethan Moczulski was another big help on special teams last year. The ‘24 squad struggled massively to cover kickoffs, so Moczulski’s ability to get kicks into the end zone made a real difference.