A quarterback making an early recruiting decision is not all that rare. Prospects at that position tend to decide early in the process, and it has even become commonplace to see them leave high school a semester early to begin college the winter after their senior seasons.
Any football recruit reclassifying and moving up his enrollment before stepping on the field as a senior is certainly not a common path taken.
Austin Mack announced his decision to commit to Washington a couple weeks ago putting an end to his recruitment setting him up for a stress-free senior year at Folsom High School in California.
Tuesday, Mack decided that he won't take the field for his team in the fall and will instead make the early move to Seattle this summer to begin his career with the Huskies a year early after announcing his plans to reclassify.
There had been some speculation that Mack could be making an early move to the college ranks when he announced his choice the same day members of the 2023 class were signing National Letters of Intent this month.
However, with Mack being only 16 years old and a junior, it seemed unlikely.
That quickly changed, and he will now add some more depth to the UW quarterback group that will once again be led by Michael Penix, Jr. in 2023. Arriving on campus this year will provide Mack with an opportunity to learn behind one of the top signal callers in the Pac-12 while also giving him a head start on eventually taking over for Penix.
His addition leaves Kalen DeBoer's team with three scholarship quarterbacks up to this point with Dylan Morris as the other member of the group.
Mack has only started for one season at Folsom High School, so there is still plenty of room for growth, but his early addition means the Huskies can worry a little less about the situation behind Penix this season after losing Sam Huard on a transfer to Cal Poly this offseason.
UW also has a commitment from Garfield quarterback recruit EJ Caminong as a member of the 2024 class as well.
Mack had a stellar junior season and will head to UW having had plenty of success in his lone starting year at Folsom. He completed 70% of his passes in his junior season for 3,498 yards and 40 touchdowns against five interceptions.