Former Washington Football RB Details Decision that Led to Transfer

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Before the Washington Huskies defeated the Boise State Broncos in the 2025 Bucked Up LA Bowl on December 13, it was apparent to coach Jedd Fisch that one of his rising stars wasn't going to be a part of his team in the near future.

Running back Adam Mohammed, an original Arizona signee and one of several players who followed Fisch north to UW, was expected to, at minimum, appear as a backup to senior running back Jonah Coleman.

Instead, he finished with two carries for six yards in the 38-10 victory over the Broncos in Southern California, but the sophomore still seemed destined to be the lead back for position coach Scottie Graham and Fisch in 2026 with Coleman off to the NFL.

Though the former two-year starter from Stockton went on to be selected by the Denver Broncos in the fourth round of the 2026 NFL draft, his expected future replacement also found a new home with the California Golden Bears and first-year coach Tosh Lupoi.

"I would expect everyone to be there," Fisch stated before the bowl game, when asked if Audric Harris—who ended up transferring to Hawaii—or any other players wouldn't be traveling with the team or opting out of the game before adding, "But we'll see. It's 2025, so anything can happen."

Ultimately, sophomore linebacker Devan Bryant opted out of the game and transferred to USC.

"Right now, where we're at is running the football is at a premium," Fisch added. "A healthier Jonah. A very healthy Adam. A healthy Jordan (Washington) puts us in a much better position—and Demond (Williams Jr.)—to get a bunch of yards on the ground, we hope."

UW ran for 127 yards and one touchdown on 34 combined carries against Boise State, led by Coleman (12 carries for 85 yards and 1 TD), Washington (four carries for 25 yards) and Williams Jr. (12 carries for 16 yards).

Speaking at ACC Media Days on Friday, Mohammed publicly detailed what led to his decision to leave UW after two seasons.

"As soon as I hit the portal—I knew a good amount over there," Mohammed told On3's Thomas Dunn in Charlotte, North Carolina.

"Just (through) our two-hour meeting were just talking, and (Lupoi) was like, 'Yeah, I'll sign everyone. If he goes in the portal, I'm going to get him.' Just knowing I was on his radar and then going to go talk to him about life and ball— We just clicked right then and there. I was comfortable."

Mohammed ran for 326 yards combined in the previous four games against Wisconsin, Purdue, UCLA, and Lupoi's Oregon defense before the LA Bowl. That included the emerging sophomore putting up a three-touchdown game to lead UW to a 49-13 win over the Boilermakers on November 15 in his first career start.

The former Apollo High School star cited former Golden Bears running backs like Marshawn Lynch and Jahvid Best as other reasons for choosing Cal for his transfer destination. He formally announced his intention to transfer days after the bowl game on December 17, meeting with Lupoi on January 1 after the Ducks defeated Texas Tech in the Orange Bowl and completing his move by revealing his decision on January 6.

"During the bowl week, I got that indication (that Mohammed would leave)," Fisch said on January 14.

"I'm not sure why he left. I don't know that. So, I wish him the best. I've known Adam since he was a junior in high school. Obviously, you'd love to hold onto every player—you can't, or sometimes you don't. But in that case, I got the impression there towards the end of the bowl week that he was looking to move on. I wanted Jonah to have a great bowl game. I wanted to appreciate Jonah for everything he's done for our program for four straight years.

"He's represented this team, this program, both universities at the highest level. So, we fed him the ball. Anybody else that wanted to play they got to play, too—that could play. That's what we tried to do."

This article originally appeared on Huskies Wire: Former Washington Football RB Details Decision that Led to Transfer

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