McCutchon Talks Washington Decision
Had Dyson McCutcheon been able to visit to Seattle during the spring evaluation period he may well have earned his scholarship offer from Washington in the same fashion that his father did in the early 1990s.
Since first-year head coach Jimmy Lake has been on staff at UW dating back to 2014, he’s used the Huskies’ Rising Stars Camp to evaluate dozens of recruits in the friendly confines of Husky Stadium.
Due to the ban on unofficial and official visits as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, however, the coaches weren’t able to host McCutcheon or any other prospects this year for the annual camp, which traditionally is held in mid-June.
As a result, it forced Lake and the other UW coaches to lean on their instincts.
Second-year defensive backs coach Will Harris built a strong relationship with both Dyson and his father, former USC Trojan and seven-year NFL veteran Daylon McCutcheon for several months before UW extended him a scholarship on May 20.
Terrence Brown, who is in his first season as an assistant DB coach after spending three seasons as a graduate assistant from 2015-17, also played a key role.
Lake made Brown his first coaching hire on Dec. 31, 2019. Just one month before Brown had extended an offer to McCutcheon while he was an assistant DB coach at Vanderbilt University.
Their connection carried over once Brown returned to the West Coast and the combination of the relationship he had with the entire UW staff, along with several other factors, led him to chose the Huskies.
“To be honest, I feel like when I got that Washington offer that put them ahead,” McCutcheon said Sunday.
“I just felt like there’s no negatives to the school. I told my dad, I said ‘dad I really think this is the spot’. Everything’s good about them. Their football, academics, all that. So he said sleep on it. I slept on it and had the same decision. I just felt like it best fits me and I’ll be comfortable there.”
McCutcheon, listed at 5-foot-10 and 160-pounds, is the second defensive back commitment for the Huskies in the 2021 class. While he isn’t as tall as three-star Loyola (Calif.) Los Angeles cornerback Zakhari Spears, the other verbal commit in the secondary, his versatility covers the ground to make up for it and more.
UW has recruited the three-star Bishop Amat stud as a nickel and outside cornerback, allowing McCutcheon to let his versatility and play on the field dictate his position. On the flipside, in one sense the addition of McCutcheon could be viewed as a 2-for-1, based on his ability to play all over.
“On the defensive side I think he can play outside, inside,” Daylon said. “I know some people have liked him as a corner. Some people have liked him more as a nickel back. He’s a smart football player.”
McCutcheon chose Washington over California and Michigan. While staying on the West Coast made picking the Huskies easier, he acknowledged the decision was more about the relationships he had been built and the overall comfort level his entire family had with UW.
Eight days after McCutcheon received his offer from UW he got to experience a virtual tour of the campus and facilities. It was the first time since he was in eighth grade that McCutcheon got to see Husky Stadium, even if it wasn’t in person.
In his father’s eyes, though, it was as if they both were on campus seeing it first-hand.
“I felt like they did a great job bringing the school to us. Literally, like I said, as close as you could feel to actually being on the campus,” Daylon said, recalling their virtual tour.
“It just seemed like their coaching staff – at the beginning of that meeting it was basically almost the whole staff. Offense and defense. I think there might have been one or two coaches that weren’t in there initially. It just felt like there was a genuine interest.”
By the time the McCutcheon’s had finished their tour it was clear where Dyson wanted to play his college football: Washington.
The same school his father almost decided to attend back in 1994. Coming out of Bishop Amat High School Daylon McCutcheon had UW among his final four schools and even took an official visit before deciding to stay closer to home and sign with USC.
Between his freshman and sophomore year Daylon earned a scholarship offer from the Huskies while attending a summer football camp. Due to sanctions handed down by the Pac-10 Conference, which resulted in a two-year bowl ban, Daylon elected to not pick UW and instead signed with USC.
Now, as a father, he is excited to watch his son play in Seattle. Moreover, he knows that Lake and the staff at UW will help Dyson grow on the field as much as they will off the field.
“I feel like that was the most important thing for me. To have him around good men that I know will look out for him and they seem like they had a genuine interest in Dyson the person.”