The Big Ten has announced the three UW players joining Jedd Fisch in Chicago for Big Ten Media Days at the end of July, and they’re three of the vocal veterans of the locker room. Quarterback Demond Williams Jr., linebacker Jacob Manu, and center Landen Hatchett will represent the Huskies at the Hilton Chicago on Thursday, July 30th, to unofficially kick off the 2026 Big Ten football season.
UW Big Ten Media Days
QB Demond Williams Jr.
Fisch has called Williams the face of Washington Football on multiple occasions. And that dates back to his true freshman season, when the head coach identified his quarterback as the future of the program. Now entering his true junior season, Williams will represent Washington at conference media days for the second year in a row.
Last year, out of the 18 teams in the conference, only eight quarterbacks were selected by their programs to attend the convention. Williams was one of them, and he was the only one who was not a returning starter of at least one year. That spoke to the leadership qualities of the then-sophomore. He now returns to the podium with 15 starts under his belt and 26 games of college experience with 4,000+ career passing yards.
LB Jacob Manu
When Jonah Coleman transferred from Arizona to Washington, it was immediately obvious the leadership presence he brought to Seattle. His maturity and familiarity with the staff brought steadiness to a roster with so much turnover in 2023. He represented the Huskies in both 2024 and 2025 at Big Ten Media Days as a critical component of the roster’s foundation.
A similar thing can be said of Manu, who transferred to Washington from Arizona after the 2024 season to rejoin Fisch and company. Manu spent the 2025 offseason rehabbing from an ACL injury suffered in 2024. He reached full health prior to the season, but played in just five games to preserve a full 2026 campaign.
The time has arrived for Manu to reignite his 2023 form, which saw him earn First Team All-Pac-12 honors after a 116-tackle season. This past spring in Seattle, Manu’s presence was infectious among the Husky defense. His vocal leadership and high-energy playing style are easy to see, and there’s no question as to why he’ll be representing Washington in July at Big Ten Media Days. In the same vein as Coleman, Manu’s familiarity with the staff and locker room presence has helped him quickly establish himself as one of the team leaders.
C Landen Hatchett
Washington’s offensive line has made it clear that it’s eyeing the Joe Moore Award this season. It returns over 2,500 snaps from last season alone. It added a five-star and number three offensive tackle in the class of 2026 in Kodi Greene. And it picked up Kolt Dieterich from Sam Houston State in the transfer portal, a player with over 1,300 blocking snaps and 25 games played in Conference USA. Most importantly, it returns Hatchett at center, who has over 1,200 career snaps and 32 games played as a Husky.
Hatchett started the first nine games of last season before a wrist injury held him out of the final four. He was out for the entirety of spring practice rehabbing, but he’s expected to be back in time for fall camp according to the staff. Before the spring season commenced in April, Fisch pointed to Hatchett and the rest of the offensive line as having “elite leadership.” The pieces are in place for the Huskies to have a quality line in 2026, and Hatchett anchors the group. He’ll take the podium at Big Ten Media Days to represent Washington.
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